Forewords:
“We were born before the wind
Also, younger than the sun
‘Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic
Hark now, hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
Into the mystic
Yeah, when that fog horn blows
I will be coming home
Yeah, when that fog horn blows
I wanna hear it
I don’t have to fear it
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float
Into the mystic
When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
Yeah, when that fog horn whistle blows
I gotta hear it
I don’t have to fear it
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float
Into the mystic
(Come on, girl Too late to stop now)”
Into the Mystic* by Van Morrison
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When they read my thoughts … pensamentos … which are so often very rough, very tough; very, very profane, irreligious, & irreverent and antineoliberal-capitalistic status quo; so very raw. … My family and some friends wish I would disappear into a mystic, and that in their life my written words would be ones they never saw. … (These folk I do dearly love certainly don’t like my writing thusly … so fussily.) …
Au contraire, others like Ms. Ruth Allen, Dr. Dick Ridgway, Dr. Pete Lingren, the Coastal Plain Experiemtn Station-UGA, Tifton, Dr. Billy Ray Wiseman, Dr. Miguel Altieri, the National Beef Cattle Research Center, EMBRAPA-MS, the team with TDA Commissioner Jim Hightower, Roland Ruiz at St. Philip’s, Dr. Darryl Birkenfeld, Tim Barr, Dr. Nathan Martin, and Sylvia Manning encouraged me to write and take a bow … and to make my mark in the here and now … even though the manner in which I employed my writing “skill” … may have not been to their will … or necessarily fit their bill … but in reality was for my own personal fill.
(All of this in the previous paragraph is why in part that I do these blogs … but on the other hand , I think, mostly in attempts to remove the fogs … from my own very personal mind which wishes to be profound and holistic; linguistic, stylistic, artistic, realistic, humanistic, ecologicalistic not Trumpian/Trumpster selfishly-narcissistic, –nationalistic, –imperialistic, -extremely-neoliberal-capitalistic, “flim-flamistic.” … But in reality I guess to float into the fogs of the mystic.)
Here’s a quick little piece which I hope will refresh us. … It is about some endearing life which yes! … it is so very precious!
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Though I have not really seen Mr. Ian, now at the University of Notre Dame, (nor his siblings Abby & William) … in a very many years
From the distant past my thoughts of Ian Bain’s loving play with his sister & brother, efforts at tee-ball and baseball and scouting, his musical performances at school and at GG’s burial service in Stockdaele-Texas two years ago … spending the night with him & Abby & William and taking them for a swim, kayak ride, and 22-target practice on The Farm … has brought me a lot of joyful tears
And the fun shenanigans of Abby, Ian’s twin (They are our oldest grandchildren!) around this old house at 605 Elm … and her innocent faith in the Easter Bunny & old St. Nick
Could so very contagiously make me very happy, and have me break out into a heart- & soul-felt laugh … real quick!
I once told my deceased-from-cancer (favorite) bro (called on SA TV “the Amazing Mr. Lawrence Martin”) that curly headed, quick-witted William was my favorite, i.e., a favorite of mine (paul bain) in the Martin chain
Though in our formative years Lawrence & I fought frequently & terribly over who was to milk the cow; nevertheless, Lawrence was always compelling, personable, endearing, & loving. and this crazy, daredevil, get-in-trouble youngster became a pragmatic and very successful, highly-respected principal in Northside San Antonio schools. (I have to admit that this shorter & a bit-over-a-year younger brother could out-work me any day!) … Anyway, from his bed at M.D. Anderson, though he recognized it as real, Lawrence chastised me super-quickly about expressing my grandkid favoritism with a: “You just don’t do that paul bain! … What’s right is for you to abstain!!!”
OK!?! But don’t have a (fought-over milk) cow
……………………
Moving on now …
The other four (4) of our seven (7) beautifully wonderfully, amazingly intelligent grandkids (each in or almost in elementary school) I’m not prohibited from seeing …
These magnificant-four treat this flawed grandpa paul vain (oftentimes “in vain”) like he might even be a caring/sharing living being
(“I love you grandpa!!! …
And … it is so very good … but be a little lighter on the honey in your homemade, hand-cranked (by us!) ice cream. You make it too durn sweet! … And PLEASE, PLEASE don’t feed me any of your nasty ol’ cole slaw!”)
So on to grandkids from which I haven’t been completely banned. … Hear ye! Hear ye! You just gotta love the wonderous Zane! … I mean Owen
And in intelligence, strategically & tactically smart chess-playing, languages (including the important one of science, mathematics), reading expertise, and smart futebol, he is magnificant … (rarely a pain!) and still growing
Owen’s favorite irmão Lane has both a focused AND a care-free spirit who like brother Owen also immensely appreciates reading … from books em espanhol ou em ingles. Lane Emerson will never be a lazy drone
He loves humanity and life! … and despite the rugged competition & tough love from his older & main companeiro Zane, Lane‘s confidence in all he does has grown … and grown … and grown!!!
And then there is Landon … such a smart and studious one who could someday be an outstanding scientist! … Well, he already is!!!
He teaches his ol’ grandpa paul thoroughly and completely. Landon will continue to go through life with a whiz … as a whiz
Finally (last, but CERTAINLY not least), today at school “five-going-on-fifty,” our borboleta Amelia performed like a star
A beautiful singing butterfly confidently strumming her guitar
……………
Of course these stories are a natural for me because I am a grandpa named paul
And though I perhaps worry about too many other things like PEACE & saving the Eaarth & “Less Is More” … you gotta know that deep down and emanating from very surface, I do love ’em all
pbm & S’s/VV->^^ (aka paul vain (or “in vain”)
(May 2023)
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*(47) Van Morrison – Into The Mystic (Official Vinyl Video) – YouTube
into the mystic mike mcclure – Google Search
