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The pictures in this issue were taken during May at Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio
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Poetical Journal © by Bob Casey
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Mission: To provide poetical and thoughtful comments on life
VOLUME X – Issue 5: Sunday, June 26, 2011 (118th Issue)
Pictures on this page were taken at Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio.
CONTENT
- Welcome & Online Version
- Opening Comments from Bob
- Two Poems: Lindsay and Cauldron
- Support my efforts for this publication by donating or purchasing merchandise
- Vignette: Amisdt the Chi
- Recommendations
- Quotable Quotes
- A Bit of Humor
- Pay It Forward Contest – Try Again
- Contest Winners from the Past
- Pay It Forward
- PJ Forum
- Reminder: If you are filtering...
- PJ Demographics – All 50 states and 72 countries
- PJ Online
- PJ Policies
- Subscription information
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Welcome
I am pleased to have you as a reader. If you enjoy the PJ, please encourage others to subscribe. If your country is not listed in the demographic section at the end, please let me know so I can update the list.
The next issue of the Poetical Journal will be out on Sunday, July 31, 2011.
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Opening Comments from Bob
Kingwood Center, Mansfield, OH: As you know from previous newsletters, I love magnificent gardens. Kingwood Center is well-known throughout much of Ohio. I have the privilege of teaching two weekly tai chi classes there. Thus, I am able to observe the changes in flora throughout the seasons. If you are in the area, be sure to make a stop.
Loving Tai Chi Camp: Every summer Dr. Paul Lam, world renown tai chi master, physician, and developer of Tai Chi for Arthritis and Health, holds his annual North American conference in mid June. This year it was held in Terre Haute, Indiana, about a five-hour drive from my home. Two of my students and I attended this wonderful experience of personal development along with improving overall form performance. I was there for ten days as I also took a weekend intensive. The conference is an opportunity to renew friendships from earlier conferences and create new ones. I encourage you, if you are looking for a low impact activity for exercise and health improvement, to investigate tai chi. I especially recommend Tai Chi for Arthritis and Health as a starting point. The form is easy to learn and low stress on the body. Plus, you don't have to be an athlete to participate. Check this link out for additional information.
Award Winning Book: Last month, I announced that I was extremely pleased that the book, Schnormeier Gardens: Peace, Harmony & Serenity, which contains many of my photographs, finished among the top two titles, earning an IPPY Silver Medal in the 15th Annual Independent Publishers Book Awards. There were over 4,000 entries. I was further pleased to see that a large number of copies were sold at the Schnormeier Gardens Open House. To read more about this wonderful book, click here.
Next Month: Next month, we travel west.
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Enjoying a swim in the pond
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During the Mercedes Car Show
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Relaxing
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Tai Chi practice in the garden
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Two Poems
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Lindsay
Death comes to all –
.....some more shocking than others.
Such was the email notification today
.....from the “Land of the Long White Cloud.”
Lindsay had suddenly passed,
.....the aneurysm undiagnosed.
1997 is when we last met
.....at a London restaurant,
.....he and his sister Belinda.
And years earlier
.....when he arrived
.....at our Ohio home,
.....having traveled from California
.....in an ancient Cadillac
.....and a jacket that cost half as much.
Lindsay was a teenager
.....when our paths first crossed in New Zealand.
He, Belinda, and brother Alan
.....along with their parents
.....would stay in our Ohio home
.....and we in theirs –
.....his father and I on a year long Fulbright Exchange,
.....building ties between two countries.
We were all excited
.....about the adventures that lay ahead.
Over the decades
.....Lindsay became a man – a father and businessman.
But for me,
.....he forever remains young,
.....a boy excited to visit America,
.....his whole life before him.
Comments: In life we meet individuals, some leaving greater impact than others. Lindsay's impact was part of a life changing experience. His father Barry and I participated in a Fulbright Teaching Exchange in the 80's. (Two U.S. and two New Zealand educators were chosen.) Barry was a lecturer (the equivalent of a professor) at Palmerston North Teachers College, and I, a public educator. During the exchange, lasting one day short of a year, we moved to Barry and Patsy's home and they to ours. Barry taught at Galion Middle School and I at PN Intermediate School. I also had the opportunity to teach one course at the Teachers College. The three younger Gregg children, Lindsay, Alan, and Belinda, accompanied their parents to America. Before departing we spent time with them. They were so young, innocent, and excited about the venture. Lindsay's untimely passing ripped part of that memory from my heart.
Cauldron
A myriad of voices prattle incessantly.
Some prick the conscience;
.....others soothe.
These catalysts of emotions
.....trigger feelings
.....from maudlin to mundane
.....from guilt to ecstasy.
From another continent
.....digital words of warmth arrive
.....turning night into day.
Images of slaughter flood TV screens.
Oh, how we justify such destruction.
A homeless wretch reaches his hand out.
An inquiry rises within,
..... “Should I or shouldn’t I?”
.....as I remember the words
.....of a former carpenter.
Everywhere, so much babble
.....so little sustenance.
Daily, deep within the recesses
.....a whisper is heard–
.....You can do more.
.....You owe it to others.
.....You owe it to yourself.
Comments: A poem of inner struggle as I wrestle with the bigger picture. Hopefully, you understood the reference to the "former carpenter."
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My books and products are purchasable online.
They make great gifts.
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My Most Recent Book: My work appears in the recently released, A Slice from the Apple with the Taste of Poetry. It is an anthology of poems written by members of the Apple Valley Poets, a very talented group that formed almost ten years ago. This book contains a wide variety of poetical genres and will appeal to all lovers of poetry. The cost is $10 plus shipping. To order, click here. When ordering, please indicate if you want the book signed.
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My other books, An Oasis in a Cluttered World, Wisdom from the Journey, and The Wanderer: A Poetical Journey can also be purchased from me online. There are other products on the page that offer unique gifts for that special someone or for yourself. Enjoy the convenience of shopping online.
If you wish voluntarily to support the efforts of the Poetical Journal, there is also a donation option on that page.
To view the product page, please click here.
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Vignette : Amidst the Chi
During my life I have attended over two hundred conferences including ones geared toward education, others toward unionism, over a dozen focusing on politics, and in the last decade, a few that included great spiritual teachers and internationally known motivational speakers. Each of these events left their impact. However, few conjure memories of unity, selflessness, camaraderie, sense of shared mission, and most importantly, general friendliness. That is until I attended Dr. Paul Lam's North American Tai Chi Conference in Memphis in 2009 and this year's in Terre Haute in mid June. All of the previous descriptors describe these two life-changing conferences. Walking down a hall becomes a myriad of hellos and smiles. All participants are there to learn more about tai chi and the benefits it offers individuals and the world. This shared focus generates intense interest and a sense of oneness. People of all ages and from all walks of life give up a week of their life to attend. One attendee, a heart transplant patient, freely gives of his time in his home state to train other transplant patients on the health benefits of tai chi. Jeff gave up a career on Wall Street to share his instructor skills with VA patients, many missing limbs. He teaches a seated form of Tai Chi for Arthritis developed by Dr. Paul Lam, internationally recognized tai chi master and medical doctor in Australia. During a presentation Jeff spoke of working with hospice patients during their final days. He stated that the internal, mental focusing required by tai chi allows terminal patients, even though bedridden, to escape for a moment their situation. Another woman with two hip replacements was using the time to improve her balance, mobility, and healing. In tai, chi participants often speak of the energy flow that all creation possesses. That flow is within us, affecting our physical and mental health. Whether one accepts that concept matters little. What matters is that when you attend one of these unique conferences, you will be touched deep within with the undefinable. You will also gain a sense of hope that perhaps humanity can reach beyond the selfishness that defines so much of what passes as news. Spending a week amidst the chi of other practitioners can be more than memorable.
If you have a guest vignette you would like to submit, please do so. Not only will I enjoy reading it, but if agreeable with you and space permitting, I will print it in a future issue. The vignette should be written in paragraph form and relate a personal story or event. Equally important, it should fit the overall tenor of this newsletter. Ideally, it should not exceed twenty lines. Please send to bob@poeticaljourneys.com.
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| Recommendations
Investigate Tai Chi Options: If you desire a wonderful, total body program that is easy on the body, investigate Dr. Paul Lam's Tai Chi for Health.
Gardens: If in the Mansfield area, visit Kingwood Center.
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Please take a look at the online book and gift page.
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"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." - Albert Einstein.
"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Sometimes you don't need the things you 'need' to enjoy the simple things, quiet times, friends, family." - Amish Proverb.
"No one shows a child the sky." - African Proverb.
"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." - Bertrand Russell: (1872-1970) British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and historian.
A Bit of Humor
A bit of laughter is healthy for the soul.
One morning the lion is feeling especially ferocious. He saunters over to a monkey swinging in a tree and roars, "Who's the king of this jungle?"
The monkey scampers down from the tree, bows to the lion and stammered, "Wh..wh...why you are Mr. Lion."
A few minutes later, the lion comes across a warthog. He stops in front of the animal and asks, "Who's the baddest dude in this jungle?"
The warthog hid his face in the dirt and whispered, "You're the baddest, King Lion."
This continues all morning long with animal after animal bowing and scraping to the lion. Finally the lion comes across an 80-year-old bull elephant. He bellows at the elephant, "Who's the king of this jungle? Who owns this place?"
With that the elephant wrapped his trunk around the lion's belly. He raised the lion 12 feet in the air and slammed his head against the ground. After that he slammed the lion into a tree on the right and then into another tree on the left. Finally, the elephant swung his trunk and threw the lion 35 feet away where the lion landed in a thorn bush.
As the elephant lumbered down the trail the lion shook his paw and shouted, "Just because you don't know the answer, you don't have to get an attitude!"
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Pay It Forward Contest - Try Again
There were no correct answers in last month's contest. So, here it is again. The winner will have $25 donated in his or her name to one of the following relief areas: Katrina, Japan, or New Zealand.
Rules and Directions: 1) Must be a subscriber to this newsletter; 2) May enter only once; 3) Must be willing to submit name and address should you win (so I know to whom to list with the charity); 4) Submit entry via email to me by midnight July 15; and 5) Answer correctly the following riddle: How many words in the English language end in "gry"? What are they?
Have fun and good luck!
Contest Winners from the Past
By clicking on this link you can see winners from earlier contests. Anyone who has won a poet print in the past and would like to be pictured on the Grand Winners Page, please send via email a jpg of you holding the print.
PJ Forum
If you have comments, recommendations, or suggestions for the PJ, please email them to bob@poeticaljourneys.com. While I often cannot print all of the comments, I personally respond to all.
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"Congratulations on the award for the book containing your photographs. . . I was moved by your vignette concerning the importance of tradition. Beautiful story!" – Jim from Mt. Vernon, OH (Ed.: Thank you for the congrats and so pleased that you enjoyed the vignette.)
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". . .Okay. I’ve been wanting to write to you about the April Issue for a while now. First, congrats on the book award! . . . Your poem Source of Life had the desired effect – at least on me. As with many of your poems, I believe it will be many things to many people. To me, it is a reflection on the search of the unattainable: inner peace, complete happiness, divine approval, The Truth. But my favorite possible meaning at the moment is related to the eternal quest to find the meaning of life. Not what gives one joy, a sense of direction, or even an illusion of success, but actual meaning. . . . The teddy bear vignette brought tears to my eyes. I find that few things are as senseless and destructive as war can be. . . In a much brighter note, the vignette (May Issue) on Erin & Patrick’s baby girl’s baptism made me smile. Such a beautiful story. I have to ask, though: didn’t you write them a prayer poem for their wedding, awhile back? It was them, wasn’t it? If so, it seems like those prayers worked." – Feryerith from Venezuela (Ed.: What a memory! You are correct. The September 25, 2005 issue contained the prayer to Erin and Patrick. Thank you so much for your other comments and kind words.)
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"Congratulations on the award, Bob! Many wishes of success and happiness to you always!" – Freda from Ontario (Ed.: Thank you!)
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"Certainly enjoyed the trip through Schnormeier Gardens today. Hope to visit again this year . . . Couldn't resist sharing a couple of my favorite pictures of the gardens from years past. . ." – Bev from Ohio (Ed.: Bev, sorry I missed you! Loved the pictures you sent.)
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"BOB, WHAT AN ISSUE!!!!!! I don't know why, but it is one of my favorites!" – Ted from Gambier, OH (Ed.: I understand why. Ted is the owner of the gardens...:-)
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"I just read the press release on the winning book and saw that the author actually mentioned your name in the press release - kudos to you. I hope you are doing well after your medical issue. I always worry about my friends . . ." – Haven from Marion, OH (Ed.: Life is going well. I had not read the full review until you wrote. I have since read it.)
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"Dear Bob, I just read the latest news letter and have been gone. . . Blessings, Light and always joy in our hearts." – Adelle (Ed.: Thank you so much! I can always use powerful good thoughts.)
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"Just wanted to send you a quick Happy Birthday!! I hope your day is absolutely splendid!" – Julie from California (Ed.: Thanks, Jules. I had a very enjoyable day.)
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"I loved the vignette about the baptismal gown that your niece Maggie wore. What a great story! Cheers to Erin and Patrick for reviving a past tradition! The Schnormeier Gardens look beautiful, and I hope to see them this year. I'm sure your pictures make everyone want to visit those gardens!" – GL from Cinci (Ed.: Yes, G.L. and her husband made the trip. I gave them a personalized tour of the gardens. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all!)
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"Thank you again for your monthly Journal....always a treat! Have a young couple from Lakeside who are going to the Big Island this summer. Immediately thought of you and wondered if you were aware of any potential places they might stay (only flights booked so far), sights to see there and places to eat?? Also is there a Journal(s) that they might review prior to going?" – Andy from Caledonia (Ed.: I always enjoy sharing my knowledge of the Islands. However, the Big Island is one that I am least familiar with. However, I sent Andy what I had.)
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"I love this one, and I love my 'morning moments.' I hope you are much better." – Bobbie from Texas (Ed.: Each month Bobbie sends a response. As always, her comments are appreciated.)
Reader Demographics
Geographically, subscribers reside in all U.S. states. Subscribers also live in Albania, Argentina, Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, & Western Australia), Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, & Quebec), Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica - W.I., Japan, Kenya, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad - W.I., Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
If your state, province, or country is not mentioned, please let me know.
PJ Online
To read some of the back issues of the PJ, go to.
The next issue will be out on July 31, 2011.
Until next time - joy and peace,
Bob
PJ Policies
Guest Poetry: Often readers send me a poem stating they would like it included in the PJ. Many of the poems are well written. Although I enjoy reading them, at this time I do not include guest poetry as part of this newsletter. Instead, I suggest that they submit them for inclusion in the Guest Poet section of my web site. A number have chosen to do so. However, time limitations and quality govern the number that will be accepted. I currently am not accepting poetry from minors.
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Guest Vignettes: On occasion, I publish guest vignettes submitted by one of my readers. If a guest vignette is submitted and selected, the author understands that there is no remuneration provided; the vignette will be included in the e-mailed and web site versions; and will remain posted until I choose to remove it from the site. In all cases, the guest vignette remains the property of the guest author who has given permission for its usage as described in sentences one and two.
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Privacy: I take it very seriously. Your name will never be sold to a third party nor will we disclose at any time your subscription information.
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Unsolicited Mailing: The PJ is never sent unless requested. If you believe you received the PJ unsolicited, please notify me. I will unsubscribe you.
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Reproduction and Forwarding: While the material is copyrighted, you have permission to forward all or part of this newsletter. You may also quote from it. Out of common courtesy (We will forget all the legal jargon and requirements.), I would appreciate at least a mention or a footnote. -- Much appreciated!
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Recommendations: All recommendations are personal ones offered for your information. I receive no remuneration of any kind from the sources or individuals being recommended – other than when I recommend purchasing my books. Actually, many are never aware of their listing. One may ask, "Why do you provide recommendations for specific establishments or locations, especially since many of your readers are worldwide and may never be able to use the information?" The key word is "may." When I travel, I plan much of the itinerary myself. This planning includes reading and listening to recommendations from professional and personal sources. My wish is that any suggestions provided will assist some readers as they make their plans. (Incidentally, I have already received feedback that readers use them.)
Subscription: To unsubscribe click on your individualized unsubscribe e-mail at the end of this newsletter. (Not appropriate for this web page.) Or send a BLANK e-mail (Be sure not to write anything in the subject or body) to
leave-poetjournal@pro.netatlantic.com
Bob Casey
Poetical Journeys
P.O. Box 319
Fredericktown, OH 43019
bob@poeticaljourneys.com
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