You are one of the Lucky Few
who truly knows and has long known
How to Live Well.
So few, so few, really do.
So many of us screw it up,
in our own silly ways,
every day.
But not you!
What did you do?
I know! I've seen, and heard, listened to stories,
been promised with words
For a good almost 28 years now.
We've been side-walking crabbily along, you and I
On the sand, on the gritty beachy waterways
In our own, very different and unique
Crabberific ways.
I decided (like a Chinese Dragon-mouse)
to Morph and Change
from Cancer the Crab
(because who wants a name like that, really?
I agree with you there...)
into Tinkle-uff-agus the Tortuga!
A Tough Little Tortoise with
a House for a Turtle Shell
(oh wait--strike that! Reverse!
oh, whatever...)
Going through life, humming,
swimming, drifting,
nibbling, trifling, picking,
banjo-listenin...the way that turtles do
Sometimes going to distant shores
to Lay a Bunch of Eggs!! Kaboom!!
(because a Turtle Never Knows...
what little baby turtles might get to
Grow
Up and
Live Long and Prosper
(and which may not...)
Most Baby Tortugas Don't
Ever Learn to Swim.
But those that do...
Do!!!!!!
SO...that's the kind of
Cancer...I have attempted to
Swim on into
Frolickingly, like a Dolphin
Mixed with a Pelican
Mixed with a Hummingbird (for You!)
Mixed with a little Mouse / Rat / Raton!! (the Spanish for mouse= el raton, rat = la rata)
Mixed with a Crab.
Because you see...
in the Sea...
Not only is it handy
To know
How to Swim
It is also Handy, Excellent, Expeditious and Efficient
To Know how to
Walk Sideways to
Evade Predators to
Sidestep Danger and to
Keep Your Head, Your Heart, Your Home
Alongside. Nearby. Handy, as it were.
That's what we Crabbies know.
That's how we plot it. And clamber towards it.
Sideways.
It's not always a clear or direct line, strraight-forward,
marching or hopping to success.
We are not Goats nor Rams,
Oxen, nor Bunny Rabbits.
We are Crabs.
We want what we want.
We Arrr what we ARRR!!!
If you don't like it, too bad!
Go swim somewhere else, lil fish.
Go knock on someone else's rock.
We have what we need here, we crabs.
We make it, we find it, we stash it and stow it.
We work for it.
If it's a rowboat, we row it.
We're not afraid of the Lines, the Traps, the Hoes...
We'll toe it!
If/when we have to!
But we know when we don't, when we won't
When we needn't.
When maybe there are some
Greener Pastures...
just over there!!!
And maybe that's the place
To go and check out next...
:)
Pick a little, talk a little.
Stop a little. Rest a little.
Play, chat, eat, nibble, sleep.
Reduce, Reuse, Repeat.
This is the Simple and Pleasant Rhythm
of a Well-Adjusted Crab.
I hate to break it to you Grammy.
You got a Double Whammy
of not-so-great (SOUNDING) fates
As far as the Stars are Concerned.
Sometimes...life gives ya lemons.
You old Crabby Rat!
Because, it's true. The Chinese, too!
Condemn you to be named an animal
You Probably Would Prefer to
Stay Away From and certainly not
be name-called, held near, or claim that Power or Nature.
But, face that Mirror of Truth, sometimes, we must
and when we do...
You might just learn...
There is more to Some of Us
than at first glance
Meets the eye.
For example,
the Rat.
Rats have a bad reputation in the USA.
Why? Well, mostly because our ugliest, dirtiest, nastiest places
full of the ugliest, dirtiest, nastiest, meanest, harshest and roughest people
(I'm speaking of course of NYC, and other major Urban Centers)
are the ones where we most often encounter them [rats, I mean.]
And yes, it's true.
Rats, when kept close to "Human Civilization"
can be quite Unsavory Indeed!
They feed on garbage, trash, refuge, rubbish.
All that yucky, smelly, unwanted stuff that man, in his excess,
will likely cast off and discard.
They "spread disease." They're dirty or gross.
But that's not what I see
When I see a Rat.
The Real Rats, the Animal Kind
Powerful in their Natural Rogue Rural States
When I run across them in Urban Centers
like NYC, SF, NOLA, DC, PHL, etc.
Always bring me a little whimsical smile.
I know that they have a
Secret Hidden Life
tucked away, behind enemy lines,
within, inside, often right beneath our eyes
Hidden in Plain Sight.
That's the Rat Way.
Do you think it's a mistake or
a random event that made
the sensai in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Into a wise old Rat?
Not. Rat's are #1, of all the creatures named in the
12 Year Animal Lunar Calendar of the Chinese Zodiac.
My friend (the Molten Golden Rat known as Spike Pierce, or Spike O'Shea, etc...)
Proudly declares his belief (probably shared by real Buddhists and stuff)
that the Rat was the First to the Buddha!
Why? Because Rats are:
"Quick-witted, resourceful and versatile.
With strong intuition and quick response, they always easily adapt themselves to a new environment. With rich imaginations and sharp observation, Rats can take advantage of various opportunities well. Rats have strong curiosity, so they tend to try their hands at anything, and they can deal with it skillfully.
Ladies belonging to the Rat Zodiac sign are Pretty, Smart, and [Graceful]. They have quick minds and dexterous hands, and are able to learn anything.
In sum (mine, from experience)Common Rat Traits Include:
-Cunning/Clever
-Loyal
-Inquisitive
-Caring
-Honest
-Actively Imaginative/Creative
-Brave
-Alternately Cautious and Risky! (Balance!)
-Homey / Nesty
-Actually quite Neat, Clean, Tidy, Precise
Doesn't that sound like you to a T
Grammy Jeanne?!
Does to Me!
Even more specifically, you are a Wood Rat
(the neatest, cleanest, freshest, most Natural and
anti-urban woodliest--version of Ratitude! and Ratitouille-osity!)
Wood Rats (1924, 1984, 2044)
Independent, self-confident, virtuous and talented |
So there you have it.
My Grammy Jeanne Tinkle.
~~~
I am very grateful, Grammy
to have known you all these years and
to have shared so many wonderful experiences,
parties, occasions, family gatherings and, of course,
delicious meals!
I am happy that you and I very nearly share a Birthday!
We are 3-day b-day buddies, as seems to happen a lot
in the Tinkle-Seltzman family clan
[Grammy Jeanne Tinkle was born on 7-10 and I on 7-13]
Thank you again for all you have done, shared, taught and given
Over the Years.
You have been a Wonderful Role Model, a Great Story-Sharer
(listener and teller both!)
It is thanks to you, Grammy
That I have Always Known
Since birth, babyhood, childhood, through young adulthood
and beyond...
That I am implicitly, ardently and unconditionally
Loved.
My parents and other three grandparents and aunts
Brothers and Cousins
Friends and other parts of the
"Whole Meshbucha" (as we say in Yiddish)
All helped along the cause as well
But I have known
Since I saw that Light and Love and
Delight and Devotion and
Ecstatic Exhilaration and
Articulate Anticipation
in your eyes, back when I was a wee lil bairn
Just a tiny Baby Turtle Tortuga-Dragon-Mouse
about to grow, gain strength, courage, wisdom...
so that I could later...pounce! ;)
What Love really Looks like.
How Adoring and Sweet, Giving and Attentive
a Grandmother or Parent, an older and wiser
Nurturing Figure
Can Be.
Thanks again, for all the Hummingbirds, Cards, Berries,
Cookies, Candies, Sweets.
For filling every square of our special-grammy-made
Eggo Waffles
That had Every Last Square
Completely Filled with sweet syrup
Because you knew that was just how your lil sweet
grandkiddies liked it!
You spoiled us all, just enough,
in all the right ways.
Just like a Grammy should!
I still feel today how I did that day
Years ago
When my parents came back after a fun vacation/trip
They had taken away from their hell-raising hooligans
Things 1, 2 and later a #3 too (quite a jolly squally motley lil krewe!)
They came back to collect me (#2)
and what did I say?
No, no. I won't go. "I stay here!!!" I said, at age 2.
I wanna stay here. With Grammy Jeanne and Grampa Norman.
They're fun! They're nice! They let me play!
Mom and Dad say,
"But Shana! We missed you! We want to see you too.
Don't you want to come back to our house in Maine with us?
And see your brother Adam too?"
And I said: "You stay here too!"
Out of the mouths of babes.
I still think I had the right of it.
~~~
The American Imperative
to Strike Out on Your Own
to be an Independent ($$) Adult!!
can be a little counter-productive
mythology / propaganda
sometimes.
Wouldn't it be nice,
[sometimes]
to just stay a bit closer to the homestead
to the Heart Center
to the Family Core
Quit Wandering, Jew!
Settle down. Grow some Roots.
Shoot up into the Sky, proper-like
As A Fully-Grounded, Family-Founded
Treeeeee!!!!
Create Life. Spread Life. Give Life. Share Life.
Read Good Books. Eat Good Food.
Drink Tea. Coffee. Water. Juice.
Not too much.
Don't smoke cigarettes.
At least not once you're old enough
to Know Better.
Don't waste time, money, energy or anything else
if you can help it
and stupid useless stuff you don't need.
Seek Treasure!
Find the Lovely, Beautiful, Special, Shiny
Things in this Precious, Fragile, Ephemeral World
Find Whimsy! Imagine! Walk! Read!
Think. Feel. Do. Be.
Love. Write. Read. Think. Speak.
Laugh. Cry. Laugh. Listen.
Relax. Rest. Sleep.
Love you Grammy!
Thank you again, for all the great lessons
All the Great Treats
the Treasures, the Tales
The Laughs, the Retreats.
Thanks for Introducing me to Florida Winters
too! I am Loving that! :D
Trying not to Rub it in...
I know how harsh the New England winters can be
and how they wear and tear
unless you learn
to make like a bear
Cuddle up somewhere
Warm, Cozy, Comfy
With a Good Book, a Hug, a Friend, a Warm Drink
or Three
And take a nice snooze. A soothing lazy-palooza
Until...the sun comes out to
Shine on our Crabby Shell Shiny Backs
once more.
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