Slabsides

I had the pleasure yesterday to visit Slabsides. It is the name of the cabin in the woods that John Burroughs built and is held sacred today by a trust to preserve his presence in the Catskill Mountains and the Mid-Hudson region.

Slabsides was his getaway and if I dare to use a term I find distasteful, his “man-cave” in the late 1800’s and into 20^th century.

He did much of his writing in this cabin. He wrote essays for leading magazines at the time. He penned twenty-seven books on nature and relationships. He was a thinker, a philosopher, a naturalist and a keen observer of nature.

Visitors to Slabsides included President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone and poet Walt Whitman. He and Burroughs were good friends. The spirits of his many visitors linger in sustained appreciation. John Burroughs was a farmer intellect and people gravitated to him because of his simple insight into mankind’s relationship to nature. His writings had a profound impact on the emerging conservation movement in America.

As I stood inside his cabin I could feel the latent energy of past greatness. It was powerful and docent Patrick McDonough was skilled in Burroughs’ history as he recounted stories of Burroughs living here.

I loved it and I will return again and again.

A Madonna Poster

I’m in an out of New York City these days working on a hopeful project.

I ride the train into the city and the subways while I’m there. The wonders and the junk that I see are astounding. People poorly dressed, rude riders everywhere, homeless and aimless intermittent on both lines, old and young, the halt and the lame, and even the occasionally a well-dressed man or woman.

I see men and women too in the uniform of the United States Military and they are always treated with respect.

But that’s beside my point in this blog. My point is that I see all kinds of things on the train and on the subway.

On the wall of one train car was this advertisement.

It was a poster for a upcoming Madonna concert. She is pictured, as you can see, in a bondage condition, chains hold her arms and legs in an open position. Sexual bondage is suggested, but not explicit in the poster.

Come on Madonna. Your talent does not require that kind of advertising foreplay. You are much better than that.

Flowers and Thoughts

In my area the peonies are blooming, as are the miniature wisteria and all the other colorful flowers that welcome in the summer.

Whenever I see the glory of late spring and the blooming flowers I think of an experience I saw a few years ago.

I watched a well-dressed man stop abruptly, as if held by some invisible force. He was in a hurry, given his stride and determined pace, yet when he passed a public garden of blossoming roses the man suddenly stopped, put down his briefcase, and turned to face the beauty that bloomed there.

There were probably sixty rose bushes each with eight to ten blossoms festooning the prickly stems. It was a magnificent site. The plethora of color, in the softness of the morning light, stopped this busy man in his hurried quest.

He stood there surveying the garden patch, spending a moment at each bush. His gaze stopped at a particularly full bush of bright golden yellow rose blossoms. He reached down, not to pick, but gently touched or better yet caressed this gift of nature. He kept his hand there for a long moment as he once again glanced at the entire patch of panorama color.

I thought how fortunate I was to be reminded, in such a tender private way, that no matter the urgency of an appointment, or how focused we are in our thoughts, when nature chooses to embrace us with her beauty and we choose to see it, that moment transforms our thoughts into a passion and we respond with awe.

Thank you Sir for the reminder to take time and smell the roses.

Nothing into Something

What is it about having nothing to write about specifically that seems to generate an idea or two?

Actually just looking at the news headlines generates laugher, astonishment and disappointment.

Headlines:

A GOP senator suggests hormones could be behind military sexual assaults. Good grief!

The Oklahoma tornado broke a record for width. Another proof that the weather patterns are changing.

France says tests prove Syria used nerve gas against the rebels. Now what?

And then I remembered what was historically important on yesterday’s date. June 4^th.

The world of early June 1989 watched the beginning of the tension between Chinese citizens and their oppressive government. It was on television. A single man standing in front of tank stopping its forward movement. Abruptly, the television signal was cut off. Slaughter took place.

To this day the Chinese Government continues to deny that anyone but soldiers died in the massacre. The collective heart of humankind knows the truth and it weeps.

Force will never conquer the desire, or the active quest for freedom in all its forms. History validates that truth over and over again on the crumbled actions of failed oppression.

Truth and tolerance, compassion and education, common courtesy and common sense are the only values that will sustain a government in power and elevate the condition of its people. 

Observations

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I stopped over night at the Turning Stone casino near Oneida, New York.

I didn’t do any more gaming other than what I said yesterday about a roulette number.

In the morning I went to cash in the players electronic card that I did not use.

I had to walk through the casino to the cashier. What I observed was a sad mixture of Americana persona. The old, both ambulatory and in walkers, the obese and the thin, the poor dressed and other poor dressed, those in shorts and tank tops, stained tee shirts and what really was offensive was the smoke.

The odor of stale and fresh smoke, for me who does not smoke, was gagging. The smoking policy alone of all casinos is enough for me to never visit a casino again.

I’m sure the management will lament my loss.

I might go to a place in a casino if it had a separate room when non-smokers could play at a few tables. I also wondered about the long-term effects of smoke inhalation on the casino employees who do not smoke.

I sensed sadness while walking through the gaming tables to the cashier cage. There was an aura of hope on every player. With every button bet of the gaming machine there was the expectation of riches as the machine played music. These tones seemed to be their individual way of securing a financial future.

In some small way I wanted to shout out there are other choices in which to live life. But then again, life is also a delightful gamble and maybe that’s enough.

Gaming

I wish I wasn't such a dunce when it comes to gambling. I was returning from a delightful Chataqua Conference in Moskoka Lakes, Canada and the Turning Stone resort and casino in upstate New York was a logical stop for overnight. It's in an area where I grew up and it's fun once in awhile to visit a casino.

In the few times I've been to Las Vegas or where ever there's been legal gambling, I've always placed a bet on the same Roulette number and nine times out of ten it comes in. It just my number and it resonates with me.

But now everything is electronic and I don't know didley. I stopped at one electronic Roulette screen, inserted my just purchased players card, pressed my favorite number and couldn't figure out when to do next before the wheel spun, so I pushed cancel and removed my card and figured that was it.

My number came in and since I wasn't fast enough or knowledgable enough to know the process I won nothing, but at least the number I pushed came in.

The universe was willing, but the intellectual force was lacking. Please remind me to get instructions before I do that again.

Have a great Monday.