The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
This weekend coming we have an outing planned with three grandkids... "The Calalcade" is a round up of walkers, riders and wagons... ...which converge on some small town in our province... I took part in this twice- both walking and riding... but am too busy at the moment...
...camping out in a sheep paddock- with my two ewes as companions.
I always find "time alone" difficult and stressful. Then, again- I can can feel very lonely in a crowd.
I have had a lot of help recently from a life coach in the east of the USA. A recovering alcoholic- who runs a course- and who has some great ideas of how to deal with C-PTSD.
I have been in the C-PTSD arena- for 4 or five years now- and have read most of the books.
I can see easily, how this fits into our Alanon principles... and I can see how we are being prepared for any sort of help that is available.
I needed help at age 8 and age 17- but it just was not available!
I would like to see this available, going forward- And accessible, from a financial port of view... part of a role I have outside of Alanon and ACA.
When i hot the city I realised that i was in a serious bad space. That the city streets were not paved with gold. In our narest city the soap factory was right next door to the chocolate factory. You can imagine the smell!
Our two grand-dads faced bullets at The Great War. Bill W. was there, as well- amongst the doughboys!
One granddad got a medal, and the other had a bullet smash into his chest. it was his methodist hymn book, in Welsh, that saved him from death. His injury got him out of the front line- and, in itself would have saved his life!
I often say- 11 or 12 of my family fought in two world wars. And came home different people. This April- for our Anzac Day I serve as the flag boy- at the cemetery and in town as well. And take my place to fill the ranks.
My friend Tom is a Pacific veteran who turned 100 last year... he is a fellow poet too, and a thinker.
This visit to the coast I have a fly for my tent- and the inside does not get damp.
At my age this activity- painting and fencing, is a cross between fun and work. I have a renovated tank installed, with bits and pieces, to provide water for my sheep...
...I like my shares to be chatty- and I try to weave outside and real life events into my narrative...
...and also I tend to free-wheel on topic... to relieve and to release trauma and anxiety, that I can really do without... ...it does take time- and seems to take forever...
...but I find, over time, that it does bring results- one moment at a time... and one day at a time too...
David, do the sheep like having you there, do you think? I love the mental images. Do you talk to them? Sing to them? Play for them? I see videos of cows and horses and elephants responding to music. Would sheep be any different?
Do you know how to shear them? Will you do that next Spring or Summer? I think it must be too late, now, for this year.
You'd have had an aiyllic childhood, if it hadn't been for the people, seems to me.
I've never been around sheep, and can only imagine how their wool feels. I like the sound they make. Was it you I told about the Jane Austen movie I recently saw and the very photogenic herd of sheep? I think they had to have come from Central Casting--they can't all be so well-formed.
Poets are lonely souls by definition, aren't they?
Yes--Ellipses indeed--sometimes I get the flavor of what you mean, if not the meaning itsownself. Always worth the read.
Wars are horrible. We heard a countdown of Wars the other day and Korea was mentioned. Hubs said, "I guess that didn't count." It was so brutal. How could anyone forget?
Glad you found the coach. Wouldn't it be wonderful if whoever needs it could be helped closer to the event(s). Perhaps healing would come more readily if the trauma weren't so deeply entrenched.
Blessings,
Temple
__________________
It's easy to be graceful until someone steals your cornbread. --Gray Charles
I savoured your response to my letter home- while staying in my tent, at the bottom of the sheep paddock. There are very few fundamental differences, between Americans and NZers. We tended to drink tea, rather than coffee, and eat mutton rather than beef. In this great cosmopolitan age this has changed markedly, for us, at least.
The sheep are called Joan and Betty. They are the Wiltshire breed, and they shed wool themselves. We once sold mutton, butter and wool to Britain. But synthetics have ruined the wool market; or rather supplanted it. And cotton was once the sought after raw material coming out of the USA. Shearing coarse-wooled sheep is no longer viable here. Our fine wooled mountain sheep provide wool for the top end suit market.
As a kid I read voraciously- but there was no-one about to talk about books, ideas and philosophies. So it is nice to chat about such stuff. Alanon has these in spades- wrapped around the boundaries of our major concerns.
I think poets, traditionally explore the idea of loneliness, of love, too; and I heard they often ruminate about concepts of time. The introduction of universal education places a poet in every hedgerow and street corner. Ditto, musician and artist, as well.
I began to write- out of teenage angst, I suppose... but it is a great asset- leading back to the subconscious mind. Also supplies a great stock of words- where people can enter into the subtilise and nuances of meaning; and purpose too, if we let it...
And your last line. It has taken me a lifetime to get to this point. We must keep our groups vibrant and healthy. To allow new members to come forward- to address the issues we raise before things get too bad. To encourage leadership- in all forms.
And maybe even to support the introduction of new ideas. Or at least new formulas for old issues. To bring about change in families- and to encourage people to lead fruitful and fulfilling lives.
I want to go back to Fiji for three weeks over winter. To effect this- we took in a couple of vineyard workers over summer, and charged them a modest rent.
We took them out to tea last night. which you might call supper, or dinner.
They are from the Czech Republic. SO's sister and hubby came along too. They most often do, for any family occasion...
...so life rolls along... the rites and passages of life. One time, in our community, these got waterlogged in alcohol. But we celebrated fully last night. A great time!
I love to hear from you. I still don't know where you live, exactly. And that is the same for most members here. I know Betty's community- because I attended her meeting, in NY at the veterans hospital. So, along with all of us, she is very much in our heart and mind, at this time.
I love the music of Stephen Foster- in an age before the states lost it's innocence in 1861. Even a tad before Mark Twain became popular. About the time of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
As I get older i want to go back over these works, and others- and reflect on the trails and tribulations of the past. I shall always place Lois and Bill on the timeline- and weave their world into the tapestry between the Great Wars. A beacon of hope, and of promise. And a promise we should all seek to fulfil... ...
...thanks for your response, my friend. I hope today finds you well, and happy... ...
I am happy today. My daughter will be leaving tomorrow after a three day visit--the best we've had in years and years.
She took an "us-ie" of us that I can bear to look at. Actually it looks pretty good, and it may not ever get better than this.
My cat climbs on Hubs, and the daughter, but won't get on my lap, so I may have more mischief brewing. Can't worry about it. I think it is up to me to starve it out if it is the case, because the little pills made me sick. After two days. So fie on that!
Only Child and I went to the little upscale market in the next place over--where lots of rich people retire. Because I don't have the best immune system in the world--never did, I wanted to get enough food in the pantry so Hubs won't have to go out much if the plague comes nigh our dwelling. It's 100 miles away--in San Antonio. We are in the Texas Hill Country, 45 miles from Austin. He hasn't been very cooperative and I don't have the energy to go to the even more Super market we have now. And I don't like to drive the little carts. I tend to take out the odd display now and then. And people will dash in front of me and it is counterintuitive to turn loose of the handles to stop the thing.
My last post had so many typos it didn't even make sense. I didn't proof it til today and can't make corrections.
I found a video on YouTube of a man in a tuxedo serenading a herd of sheep on a piano. So I think Joan and Betty will love the banjo. Are they named for two former Hollywood actresses? I hope they get along better than those two did.
I had never heard of self-shedding sheep. How convenient. I've pretty much only worn natural fibers for the last 40 years, so I love to think about the fine wool these must have.
Lovely story about your wife's grandmother bringing four-point harmony to Fiji.
Loved reading your and Jerry's thoughts on culture and the program.
Temple
__________________
It's easy to be graceful until someone steals your cornbread. --Gray Charles
Glad your family visit to you turned out so well Temple.
One of the C2C readings talks about a newcomer- who comes to their first meeting and finds people talking and laughing- at the beginning of the meeting. I like it that people talk, and catch-up- from time to time. would not like to see all our meetings here taken up with chit-chat. It is an interesting balance. ...
... we have had the first case of the virus arrive to ur country. The cart is well and truly out of the bag! The assessment you make of the impact- of the virus arrival- is one I agree with totally. There is a race on to create a vaccine, and it will come... but many people will gain immunity, by actually getting it.
Another warm afternoon here. Two tired grandees... lovely day out... Take care Temple... and a time world-wide for people to close ranks, and keep in touch. ...
...and happy with you- with your opening lines! ...
...it does take time- and seems to take forever...
Temple...