Ghost Tree
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the great island of Nantucket! It is so good to be with you on this Saturday morning, a cold, but not as cold, start to the day, as I just returned to my home here in Osterville after taking a spin down to Dowses Beach, the little public beach, although a Barnstable county resident parking sticker is needed to avoid the $20 dollar parking fee in the summer months, that adorns, much like the jewels on a crown, this little seaside village off the beaten path, once laid down by the Indians who once “owned” all of this land, even though they never thought so and could not fathom the concept of ‘fences’, now represented by route 6, a two lane highway that takes one from the Sagamore or Bourne Bridges 70 or so miles east, then sharply north, to the tip of the long sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age, to Provincetown. Provincetown, along with Plymouth, is famous for being the first real landing spot of the Pilgrims, who braved the unpredictable and sometimes violent Atlantic Ocean, originally settling this country during the early 1600’s. While at Dowses, this morning, I just sat sipping my coffee and taking in all of the nature around me. The air show above, complete with seagulls, Harrier Hawks, Great Blue Heron and the occasional sea crow, while on the peaceful waters below, floats the Bufflehead duck, hooded Mergansers, Eiders, and Mallards, as they dive down into the water seeking the many species of fish in the frozen winter liquid known as Nantucket Sound. Several harbor seals were spotted on the beach, as they look for food in these calmer waters taking, perhaps, a break from all of the turbulence of the past few days of powerful storms that made their exit here, right off of the shores of Cape Cod, and headed up into the Canadian maritime. As I sat in the silence, a deep feeling of presence fell upon me, where I felt no need to review the past, nor a need to worry about the future. Perhaps that is the beauty of nature itself, it gets us ALL back in balance with that connection to all living things, be them animal, plant or mineral. Saturdays on Cape Cod and the islands in the winter, for I lived an entire winter on Nantucket in 1997-98, is a great time to do some real soul searching, with the clearness and clarity of the air hopefully reflecting in clear thoughts and intentions, realizing that the voice that we all seek, the voice of TRUTH and JUSTICE, of LOVE and FORGIVENESS, resonating deep within ALL of our souls, exposing the JOY that can only be found when one is calm, offering no resistance, combined with no attachments and no judgements–ultimately brings one closer to an ancient mantra, “TRUTH is my name”, and I am at PEACE. Too transcendental? The world of NOISE and misguided intentions provided to you by…take your pick, is a problem that is easily solved–turn off the television set, or, if you are inclined to find the TRUTH out there, instead of being misinformed and hoodwinked, brainwashed and lead, enslaved in the endless modes of ‘fashion’, profiting the few, or falling prey to Madison avenue’s latest trend to “make you whole–if you wear this, or eat that, go here, or do that,” yes, instead of doing any of that, “take the road less traveled”, a great book by the way, by Peck I believe, and do your own research. Never allow someone else to tell you how to THINK or what to BELIEVE, for advise, or egoic “beliefs”, is not based in reality. It is just polished down “wisdom”, or old wives tales, that is handed down from generation to generation, much like the “human race”, passing a torch endlessly down the line, a tradition, if you will, that is in place to “keep the status quo”, and, if possible, make it better for one particular group, a group that plays by ungodly rigged rules, contradicting the words and deeds of the very man whom the religion of “Christianity” is based upon to begin with. Now, you can draw your own conclusions of whence I speak of, or whom I am speaking of–as I am taking a day off from politics. The day of Sabbath is an important gift to remember in this life, in the Jewish faith, it is paramount. This is a faith I am quite familiar with, as I worked as a camp counsellor at Camp Tel Noar, in Hempstead, New Hampshire, the summer after my sophomore year of college at the University of Vermont. I was the biking instructor and “water safety instructor” as well as the Lifeguard. All of these kids were Jewish, mostly from the New York City metropolitan area, obviously, making that distinction because I was the only gentile on the premises. At first it was odd wearing a yamaka, singing at dinner, a holy prayer, eating “kosher” food, with the big rule being separating the milk and the meat, not eating them together and using separate plates for the two food “groups”, so to speak. But, as I got used to the customs and ways of my new found friends, taking them on bike trips to the Atlantic Ocean overnight, all 15-20 of them, I found that my disciplined upbringing as a Catholic seemed to matter less and less, for although I maintained my “faith” in something much greater than myself, I honored and embraced that adopted religion and moreover, LOVE I received from the camp experience in general, bringing me closer to what true FAITH is really all about. My prayer is that we in this country take that sentiment to heart. Judging not, what is currently happening in another part of the world, a world now interconnected, but rather attempting to understand it better, hence being in a better position to HELP our friends in Egypt, rather than hurting them. Have a wonderful day everybody. PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M
