Sunday in the city...
Foto by Vanessa Lillian
So yesterday, Vanessa and Izze and I got into my truck and headed up to Columbus to meet some friends and do some shopping for the house and the Fur Peace Ranch. I don’t do Facebook, but Vanessa does, of course, and when she posted this great picture of Izze and myself she got lots of comments. I find it interesting that many people find it singular that I would go shopping myself. Now, yesterday was a beautiful day here in Ohio and I could have gone for a great motorcycle ride, but with me being gone so much of the time on the road, I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity to spend time with my family here in Ohio. As for buying in bulk… why pay retail? Right?
Anyway, in the spirit of synchronicity my old college pal, Paul Wasserman sent me this great poem which arrived at just the right time.
My Daughter Asleep
Carrying a child,
I carry a bundle of sleeping
future appearances.
I carry my daughter
adrift on my shoulder,
dreaming her slender dreams
and I carry her beneath the window,
watching her moon lit palm open and close
like a tiny folded map,
each line a path that leads where I can’t go,
so that I read her palm not knowing what I read
and
walk with her in moon light on the landing,
not knowing with whom I walk,
making invisible prayers to go on with her where
I can’t go,
conversing with so many unknowns that must know her more
intimately than I do.
And so to these unspoken shadows and this broad night
I make a quiet request to the great parental darkness
to hold her when I cannot, to comfort her when I am gone,
to help her learn to love the unknown for itself,
to take it gladly like a lantern for the way before her,
to help her see where ordinary light will not help her,
where happiness has fled, where faith will not reach.
My prayer tonight for the great and hidden symmetries of life
to reward this faith I have and twin her passages of loneliness with friendship,
her exiles with home coming, her first awkward steps with promised onward leaps.
May she find in all this, day or night, the beautiful centrality of pure opposites,
may she discover before she grows old, not to choose so easily between past and present,
may she find in one or the other her gifts acknowledged.
And so as I helped to name her, I help to name these powers,
I bring to life what is needed, I invoke the help she’ll want
following those moonlit lines into a future uncradled by me but parented by all I call.
As she grows away from me, may these life lines grow with her, keep her safe,
so
with my open palm whose lines have run before her to make a safer way,
I hold her smooth cheek and bless her this night into all these other unknown
nights to come.
-David Whyte
Now as you can see from the fotos, I won’t be carrying her over my shoulder any more and my son Zach is now a good three inches taller than I. Still and all, the sentiment remains… deep and powerful! I know there is a grand future for my children!
Wally, Cat, Grateful, Jorma, Izze & Hurl
Foto by Vanessa Lillian
Breaking bread with dear friends as Winter thinks about waning… very, very nice…
Onward indeed!
Hey, she’s getting taller!
Nice!!
I love a good, “good dog” story.
(If I had posted something like that, instead of you — there would have been protest and calls for my elimination from this comments section. LOL!)
@jim hitchcock
Such a beautiful poem.. I hope you won’t mind if I share this with my three daughters who are grown and on their own but they will always be my little girls.
🙂
I think the woodchuck was right – it sure feels like spring this week. Less than a month til trout season!
I once had a friend named Bill Kemp
He was a bit short on good character, though he was a helluva good pedal steel player.
He had a dog called Mo, short for Maureen O’Hara. She was extremely fearful of people she did not know. Aussie collie mix.
First, maybe second time I met her, I walked too close to her, and she jumped at the opportunity to latch her jaws over my left foot.
She looked up at me menacingly, people were freaking out, Bill was freaking out, I looked down and calmly said “It’s okay, girl”.
She retreated to her corner, I sat down on the couch.
I looked at her across the the room, said ” come here, Mo” and she did!
I wrapped my arms around her wonderful fur, our eyeballs gazed upon each other in trust, and just like that, friends for life 🙂
Thank you Jorma for shareing inspiration with us,it means alot,beautiful poam,i hope to pass on the beauty we all share and feel with my children,thank you as always brother.
Had the same decision Sunday (ride or go to Costco’s) made the same decision too ! Cashed my Costcos rebate check and picked up Grass fed organic Chopped meat at $5/lb. Can’t beat that, gonna cook up a bunch of burgers
Good stuff all the way around!
Thinking about my special daughter Nikki as well as she is running around the house.
Enjoyed catching you and TTB in St. Pete back in January. Wish I could have caught y’all in DC…3 of my favorite guitarists in one building: JK, DT and ST! Looking forward to a another great season at FPR.
eye
I will keep an on it . Thanks.
Jorma when can we expect more summer tour dates for you and Hot Tuna?
Woops… submitted too soon. More dates will be on the site as they evolve.
jorma
It’s right here on the web site. Check the tour page brother…
Dear Jorma, when i referred to my daughter your words that you know there is a grand future for your children she said there was a great past for her, she’s way older than I was when she was born, still my son and my daughter need to be nourished as back then, it’s a different feed, but they need it to be guaranteed a grand future, and so do i.
Music to my soul does like air and water for life, vital, so there’s only the deep sound Jack frees in the air to free the imagination and of course all the amazing adventures Jorma sets on and off stage to remain wonder-stricken for life, and so do my children, with such a wardrobe a grand future is always there each single morning, thus givin’ us the hint to bow grateful in this sacred mistery.
Always Thanks Jorma!
As I Grow
~Author Unknown~
Please understand I am growing up and changing very fast.
It must be difficult to keep pace with me, but please try.
Please reward me for telling the truth.
Then I am not frightened into lying.
Please tell me when you make mistakes and what you learned from them.
Then I can accept that I am okay, even when I blunder.
Please pay attention to me and spend time with me.
Then I can believe that I am important and worthwhile.
Please help me explore my unique interests, talents and potential.
In order for me to be happy, I need to be me.
Please do the things you want me to do.
Then I have a good, positive model.
Please tell me by your words and actions that you love me.
Then I will feel loveable and will be able to love myself and others.
For crying out loud, it seems just like yesterday when you were blogging about bringing the dear girl into your hearth and home.
I have 4 girls as you already know Jorma…1 has reached 19 now and I feel like time has betrayed me…she has moved out to be with a boy I don’t approve of and I feel robbed…there was so much I wanted to do, but I fear those days have passed me by in the wink of an eye…I am left to pray that I have taught her well and that she listened to my “speeches” but only time will tell…I’m going through alot of rough times and dark thoughts lately, and that’s why I had to comment to let you know that I was truly moved by the poem you posted and need to express my thanx to the author and to you for being the link that connected me to it…like the old blues that always helps me feel better, I wouldn’t have discovered them without messengers like yourself…FPR always helps to lift my spirits but you’re workin hard in the off-season bringing a sense of peace to a very worried mind…it was beautiful and I was moved to tears…a million thanks to you
P.S. can’t wait to kick off FPR 2016 with you and Hurl soon
There’s a Natural Foods store on W.13th in Manhattan called Integral Yoga Institute.
They have a Mandela logo at the entrance that says…
“Truth is One…Paths are Many”.
I’ve always loved it. It means more to me now than ever before.
jorma if may be so bold and of course I have always spoke my mind as u well know.you have def trimmed up.looking strongs as all get out and lean to boot.well done buddy well done
You look very healthy Jorma.
Blessings.
I always enjoy the Jorma and family photos:
Jorma at home, Mav the cool dog, and Jorma out doing things with his family.
Jorma at Costco: why not?!
Jorma at COSTCO!…picking up a forklift of Jelly-Roll no less!
Did you buy any Tuna????!!! Hahahaha couldn’t resist Jorma sorry….
Thank you for sharing that poem. It’s so great that you are able to find balance and peace in your life. Your music has brought much to your audience. Moments like that with the family are often the most precious.
Time with the family is always time well spent. Our children are at that point in their lives only ” For a little while ” and then that time is gone. I am happy that this is so for you as i remember you once posted it hasnt always been this way for you. May God continue to bless you in such an abundant way and thank you for sharing these special moments with us Jorma.
Great pix.
Kramer: “Retail is for suckers.”