Elk River

Sleepy town on twilight brow
Cricket swamp and firefly weeping willow in the yard

Deer dancing days away in the pasture,
within the city walls a mill turns oats
and churns grains, the young man bags for sale

Priestess in the chapel near the school street
speaks soundly to mild minds
Tame, the villagers spring forth
for Sunday coffee in the spring

Winters bellow frip and frost
mittend children stomp footprints on the moon
sliding fast down Handke hill
and pick up hockey on the pond.

Lo, the land in the river valley Mississippi
where city and country flow together
city growing and the snow falls reluctantly
yet the snow still falls.

Blown Mind

It's been a few days since I blogged. I haven't had the time, nor the desire to lay down tracks but it's no one's fault 'cept mine. here's a run-down ...

1. My SON was born! Franklin Thunder, weighing in at 8 lbs., 13 oz., came into our lives on the morning of December 12. It has been an incredible experience to say the least. First of all, I cried my eyes out. When they pulled him out and I heard the crying, I thought "that's my daughter." And when the doctor's said "it's a boy!" I freaked out, lost control of my bowels and nearly fainted. We had been expecting a daughter for 5 months and were completely prepared for just that. Missy said she always thought in her heart it would be a boy, and we're nonetheless ecstatic. Everyone I called that day thought I was joking when I told them. It got a little annoying after a while but what can ya do? Joe gets credit with the qoute of the day, however, when he said "Score one for the guys." Right you are my friend. Right you are.

2. (before I start this let me tell you all of this has to do with my son) We've had a ton of visitors. Missy's mom was here to begin with, in the hospital with us for the first few days. She would go home at night and I would go back to the hospital, so we ended up with plenty of "bonding time" alone with Franklin right away. She was a good guest, though very needy and she moaned like a toddler when she got hungry. Whatever.
My parents came 4 days after the baby was born, and they were very content to sit in the living room, holding the baby all day. At night, when Franklin got fussy, my Mom knocked on our door and took him downstairs for a few hours so we could sleep a little. Thank you Mom, you were amazing and we couldn't have done this without you. On the third night, Franklin started crying and we told Mom we could handle it. She got a little upset but it was for the best. The next day we made sure she got extra time holding him. My Dad and I went to guitar center and I jammed on an SG for two hours.
After my parent left, we had a day to ourselves, then the in-laws came for Christmas. They stayed at an RV park on base, so we had our space but it became a little taxing driving back and forth every day. I took Missy's brother surfing a few times, and on Christmas Eve morning [sic] I caught a few decent rides so all was good. They left Christmas day, and Missy and I had a nice quiet morning opening Franklin's presents for him. I got him some Beef Jerky, Gummiworms, a Muppet's Christmas Carol DVD, and a toy VW Microbus. We also got him a little football and soccerball.

3. Franklin is crazy! He's a wildman and has been keeping us busy. I try and help out as much as I can, and I do most of the late night dipey changes. Everytime I change his diaper, he aims his wiener off to the side and pees everywhere. Half the time I catch it with my hand. Changing diapers isn't that bad though. I guess it gets stinky when he starts eating solid foods.
When he's hungry, he cries and if I'm holding him, he grabs hold of my shirt neck and kicks my groin. If I put my hands under his feet, he can actually climb up my chest. He's super strong and I don't doubt he'll be crawling before expected time (whenever the f*** that is. There's too much stuff to remember right now).
Last night he had a stuffy nose and couldn't feed, so we poured saline drops into his nostrils and sucked it out with a bulb syringe. Until then, we hadn't heard his "I'm scared" cry. More like primal scream. I think he woke up the neighborhood, but I wouldn't expect anything less. What a great kid.

So I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays and continues to through the 1st. I've got a correspondent on the ground in the midwest keeping me posted on all things winter. I'm slowly getting back to work so keep watching the net and we'll talk soon!!

thoughts on thinking

Today is Tuesday. Missy is quite close to labor now and I feel like we're ready. We want this baby to come now! At the doctor's appt. yesterday they said she was about 75% there so it could be just a few more days. If the baby is not born naturally this week, we have an appt. for induction on Monday, Dec. 11. Missy has generally been in high spirits, although physically I believe she is exhausted. I know I am. I toil my evenings away these days, playing guitar or doing things in the baby room. Last night I adjusted the crib, then played some guitar.
A few moments ago I had a great conversation with a young lieutenant here about metaphysics/conciousness. It's good to know that no matter where you are, enlightment exists. We spoke mostly about collected universal energy and the way the universe acts within us and those around us. "The Human Experience." I've known a few enlightened people, I believe, and I want to be there as well. I've spoken about strengthening the body to strengthen the mind, but I need to work on a flip-flop version of this. At the same time, physical well being is said to support/conduct universal energy by allowing our "mind-pores" to unclog. The theory is clearly justified by the simple exhilleration we feel from exercise.
This ties into the pregnancy experience for me because Missy and I have taken to frequent walking in the evenings to attempt stimulating the uterus. I think it works. Today we'll be walking at noon as well. Perhaps by demonstrating our physical readiness, energy will congregate into our collective realm and stimulate mental readiness, thus adding an element into the equation which produces a product. Two does not equal four. But two plus two, well my friend, heh, heh ...
Now get out there and let your freak flag fly.
In other news, I went on a machine gun shoot friday with Combat Engineers Battalion. 249 SAW, 240G, and the MA DEUCE M2 .50 cal. very, very nice.