Thursday, March 19, 2009

Glory for the Corps & the wolves cometh

As long as I brought up the subject, I thought I would continue it. Here presented, for your education, edification and enjoyment, is a small sample of T-shirts reflecting Marine Corps sentiment. As usual, the technical quality of the photograph is rather dismal but, if you pop it up to full size, most of the slogans should at least be readable. If they are not, let me know and we will hire an attorney and see if we cannot find three or four people to sue. I would think the T-shirt manufacturer alone would pay us a tidy sum just to have us get lost.

Two hunters exchange thoughts ....
Part two of two

The trail is ancient, while the day dawns new.
It skirts the shoreline of a deep, blue lake
which nips at sand and rocks 15 feet below.
There walks a wolf below, big, gray, prowling,
hunting, driving on a search for game
while I watch, admiring its stealth and grace.

While I watch, I am watched. I know it.
I sense it. I feel another presence, near.
I turn my head and see the hunter's mate,
behind me, six feet distant, no more.
Our eyes blend, lock, focus, one upon the other
in a penetrating stare, each the other to know.

His approach I had not heard, so silent was he,
as the pair hunt the lake shore, one high,
one low, he on the upper deer trail
while she stalks the shoreline below.
My eyes record his outer being, long legs,
thick fur, expressionless face but for his eyes.

We probe each other's eyes, even beyond.
A minute it lasts, maybe two before
the wolf seems to shrug his shoulder,
lower his gaze from me to the trail ahead,
step forward, all this in a single motion
does the wolf move past me, continuing
his march along the ancient deer trail.

He passes so closely I can reach my hand
to touch, but do not, for he merely
is offering passage, not a welcome
to his woodland, to his home, to his path.
It is his trail, not mine; it is his mate below
on the lakeshore, not mine; I am his guest.

We might be brothers should we hunt alone,
but he is wary and protects his mate,
who patrols the sandy, rocky shoreline below.
There are times when brothers do not trust
even brothers, and this we both have learned.
I watch them until they disappear, together.


Incidentals ….

I do have a few other elements I want to toss into the wolf mix, part 2, but this is where I am right now and I feel lazy -- like I am on vacation or something like it. Besides that, I woke up today with a bit of a head cold, and it has been catching up to me more and more as the day progresses.

On a more positive note, I learned last night that I can separate the work of artists from the political viewpoints of the artists. That sort of snuck up on me without warning. Small victory, but major good feeling.

The Marine Corps enters my mind every January as I approach my anniversary date. It usually has been washed from my system a few days after the date (January 24) has passed, but this year it keeps coming back. Something must be stirring the blood. I wonder what.

Maybe I will add to this later, maybe I will write an email or two, maybe I will watch a movie, maybe I will pour a brandy and sit outside a while .... it is my time, at least for the moment.

Music Note: Listening to Def Leppard ....
Specifically, "Pyromania" ....
Some lines from: "Foolin':"

Is anybody out there, anybody there

Does anybody wonder, anybody care
Oh, I just gotta know

If you're really there and you really care
Cause baby

I'm not F-f-f-foolin, ah f-f-foolin
F-f-f-foolin, ah f-f-foolin

16 comments:

A Cuban In London said...

'Be safe, sleep with a marine'.

That brought a smile to my face today. Many thanks. Nice post.

Greetings from London.

Natalie said...

“…there are times when even brothers
Do not trust each other…”
– sad but so true, Fram….
Love the story.
P.S. Are you half-Norwegian, half-German, half-Polish??
You and Tiramisu recipe in polish –have you actually tried Magda’s recipe??? - or only brandy part of it!?!?!??!?

TheChicGeek said...

Hi Fram :) I like the T-shirts. My daughter says according to your T-shirts you must be a redneck...lol...
Which one is your favorite?

Fram Actual said...

I sort of like that one, too. It brings a lot of smiles.

Nice to see you in the neighborhood, Cuban. I'll be off to London, figuratively speaking, quite soon.

Fram Actual said...

Thank you, for liking it, Natalie. I tried to include both overt and between-the-line messages in it.

My math skills are limited, but the breakdown of my nationality seems close.

Yes, I did try it. The translation device on Magdalena's page handled everything but one ingredient, as I recall, and I looked up other recipes on the internet to complete the plan. I did obtain help in the actual preparation. And, be assured, the leftover brandy did not go to waste.

Fram Actual said...

First, I'm not certain either you or your daughter is old enough to be reading those T-shirt slogans, Kelly.

Next, I can be, if circumstances warrant. Chameleon, remember. But, by nature, no. Tell her I'm just the neighborhood bookworm who likes to play football and to shoot guns at bowling pins.

Favorite? What a silly question.

TheChicGeek said...

Hi Fram :) I'm just teasing you. I popped over to comment and then we went on the record in the courtroom before I had a chance to finish. I was going to say I like your story and the symbolism in it a lot...it's quite beautiful.

? said...

Love the story.

Fram Actual said...

Teasing, hah? Well, ok. But the chameleon remains ever vigilant just in case.

Thank you, Kelly, for the nice words about my story in column form.

Do you suppose the old billionaire has an opening for a chauffeur or a bodyguard or a brandy taster?

Fram Actual said...

Thanks for visiting and reading, y river.

I keep wanting to fully explore your site, but usually have to just run through. One of these days ....

Katy said...

Love the photo - and 'be safe - sleep with a marine' is very funny :-)

Love the wolf story too. That must have been an amzing experience to be so close to 2 wolves at the same time.

Your reflections on differentiating the art and the artist are interesting; did you have any particular artists in mind? I also wondered - do you feel this is linked to the concept of the reporter as chameleon?

Fram Actual said...

Hi there, Katy ....

In a word, yes, regarding the wolves, but I was not really conscious of the event as being anything out of the ordinary at the time it was taking place. Also, this was a couple of years after "part 1," where a wolf was a matter of yards from me and seemed oblivious to my presence, so I'd already had a similar experience, but at a "safer" distance.

No, in terms of particular artists. Yes, in terms of ideologies, such as in the sense that a "terrorist" might also be able to produce "meaningful" art.

Reporter = chameleon. I hadn't thought of it that way, but I guess it could be. In that regard, I was thinking more in terms of "all the world's a stage."

TheChicGeek said...

The billionaire has all of those but if you put on a short skirt he may have a position for you :)

Fram Actual said...

My senior year in high school, among other things, I was voted the boy with the best legs.

I have been waiting for an opportunity to cash in on that. Well, maybe not now, under the circumstances.

My girl friend at the time was voted the girl with the best legs. Does that seem weird, both of us, I mean?

TheChicGeek said...

That's funny, Fram. I was always voted the best legs too :) In college I used to enter "Hot Legs" contests and win lots of mula. Back in the Rod Stewart Hot Legs days. That way I didn't have to have a real job, I could go out, have fun, do a litttle dance and win some cash. Mind you, I was wearing proper clothes :) I was even on this show called "Real People" on TV for winning a leg contest...silly, huh. My mom still has my trophy :)

Fram Actual said...

I will continue this story at some point in the future (maybe). Allow me to mention right now, best hair and most clothes for a boy.

Mothers.

Something special ....