One day, years ago, when I was working lunchtime at McDonald's, a young businessman came up to the counter and he was rather slow moving, shaking and fumbling with his wallet, and had a rather pained look on his face. I told him it was ok... to just take a breath and take his time ...
I said I could see he wasn't having the best day, and he said,"WHY DO YOU CARE?!!" I reached a hand out to him and said," BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE A BAD DAY AND NOBODY THERE TO CARE AT THAT TIME, AND I HATE SEEING ANYONE ELSE GO THROUGH THAT" ...
Then he told me why he was upset, that he was from out of town, and he smiled with a glow and looked me in the eyes and told me that he was sure it would all be better now... and thanked me for caring.... He was at peace... I saw the way his whole manner changed...as he waved and smiled, with his bag of burgers, going out the door... For real... and it still makes me smile all these years later, when I think about it
Many times it only takes a sincere touch to turn someone's day around ... and it's like magic
Monday, May 21, 2018
One summer night 1971
P&G's in New Palltz a summer night in 1971 .. There we were little group of us, nameless friends, united in our dreams and smiles and common bond to as song .... The young bartenders smiled as they cleared the tables , gathered the glasses and, swept the floor as LAYLA played ... over, and over, and over again... We swooned in the heat of the night, to the music that, alone, took us on a ride to places no words can describe... and as they were playing it for the final time that night, I went outside and sat on a bench, under a soft streetlight, alone, in the college town deserted for the season, and heard it waif out on the night air and dance with the stars in the soft night sky... and I followed
Have NO doubt ... I AM THE POWER ~ God
I remember going home from Kentucky, in 2003, through Ohio, on the Interstate,on a beautiful, clear, hot summer's day. The whirr of the tires on the road... the vastness of the fields of corn and soybeans on both sides of the highway peacefully basking in the sun.... as we were just cruising along... talking about our wonderful experiences of the past couple of days ... Ahhh...
Well, the car I was in had a temperature gauge.and as we were cruising along at about 80 mph, the driver (I was in the backseat) with his eyes still on the road ahead, reached up and tapped on the inside gauge... He was drawing our attention to the rapid change in temperature... As we (passengers) watched it it fell from 90 to around 55 in a matter of seconds.
We looked out the back and saw people had pulled over under underpasses. We thought THEY KNOW SOMETHING! IT'S LIKE THEY KNOW A TORNADO IS COMING! But we could't slow down! There were other cars and tractor trailers behind and alongside us.
Then suddenly the driver said something like OH SHIT and we looked out the front and there was a DARK CURTAIN in front of us... It was swallowing up cars . They were there one second and totally obscured the next. The driver said, WELL WE HAVE NO CHOICE, and we went into it too. I said MAINTAIN SPEED AND JUST KEEP GOING! FOLLOW THE TAILIGHTS OF THE CAR IN FRONT OF US AND DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF THEM... PRAY THEY KNOW THE ROAD AND DON'T GET INTO AN ACCIDENT OR TRY TO STOP ! We could barely even see the taillights of the car right in front of us... and the last time I'd looked, there was a tractor trailer behind us! There was no way they would be able to stop! They might not even be able to slow down! It was like we HAD to trust the one in front of us who was following the car in front of them, and so on... as if we were all on a string... OR A PRAYER CHAIN! .. We had no option but to HAVE FAITH AND KEEP ON KEEPING ON. The RAIN was torrential to say the last.
Then there was a deafening BOOM and a BRILLIANT flash of light... FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER ... AND ANOTHER!... then it dawned on me ...WE HAD ENTERED A SUPERCELL! WE WERE DRIVING THROUGH IT AT 70 MPH!! ... and e we all said, "OH MY ... GOD! " or something similar
Then suddenly we were all silent.... Focused... Praying...
It was only a matter of maybe 5 minutes but it seemed like an eternity, and finally we were through it!
We were all breathless and full of exclamations, like HOLY HELL WE MADE IT! DID YOU SEE HOW THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED? THAT WAS A THUNDERHEAD WE JUST DROVE THROUGH! etc. and we wondered (for a moment) if the people behind us had been hit with a tornado, because just as we entered the DARK CURTAIN OF RAIN there was a sudden BLAST OF WIND ... but we were so relieved to find the sun shining DAZZLING BRIGHT on the other side and joyful that THE RAIN HAD WASHED EVERYTHING CLEAN AND SPARKLING LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE BRILLIANT SUNSHINE, that we forgot everything else and merely rejoiced saying WE'RE ALIVE! WE MADE IT!
(*Two days before, we had just gotten to our motel in Kentucky when Iwe heard about the BLACK-OUT that had hit several states,including NY, PA and Ohio and other areas nearby, leaving the people back home in NY without power, and in a humid, oppressing heat... We had watched that on the news in the lounge after dunner, with mouths open and making comments and muttering WOW.... but the area we had been in was like an island in that we still had power and TV. We thought that was weird and remarkable, until we experienced THIS! )
(*Two days before, we had just gotten to our motel in Kentucky when Iwe heard about the BLACK-OUT that had hit several states,including NY, PA and Ohio and other areas nearby, leaving the people back home in NY without power, and in a humid, oppressing heat... We had watched that on the news in the lounge after dunner, with mouths open and making comments and muttering WOW.... but the area we had been in was like an island in that we still had power and TV. We thought that was weird and remarkable, until we experienced THIS! )
I have been through some interesting times, but nothing has ever really quite matched this... Thankfully, by the time we got home, the power was back on...It had been coming back on to the towns and cities we passed through, just minutes before, each time... ... It was like we had been visited PERSONALLY by GOD, and he was telling us something like REMEMBER THIS ... I AM GOD AND I SAW YOU THROUGH ALL THIS! LO I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS! The power had been out, but not for us, then we had been ENGULFED IN THE POWER, and when we got home, THE POWER WAS ON....
Even when times are so dark and wild that you can't see The Light. and there is no shelter from the storm, KEEP THE FAITH ... and MAINTAIN SPEED AND KEEP ON GOING... KEEP FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE and FOLLOW THE GLIMMER OF HOPE WITH FAITH... THIS TOO SHALL PASS and the BRILLIANCE on the other side will be DAZZLING, AND THE ROAD AHEAD WILL ALL BE MADE NEW... 'Your FAITH has seen you through this...Welcome Home. .. The Power is ON ... AND I AM THAT POWER! ~ God'
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
My Quest for the The Ghost of Gettysburg
I had an experience in Gettysburg in 1957, as a small child.... I saw a soldier jump out of a trench and run in front of the car my father was driving. I thought he was a real person. I yelled at my father to stop... but he hit him... only he didn't ...because he turned to look at me and continued to the other side of the road. . My father knew I had seen him. I described him and later learned that he was from the north, from the area where I grew up in NY. I still wonder what his name was and why I saw him so clearly... and why he turned to look at me... But he never frightened me
*Go to "GHOSTS OF GETTYSBURG (DOCUMENTARY)" on YouTube ( The URL won't hyperlink)
The experience I had was definitely of a ghost. He jumped out of a trench and dashed in front of the car, and the car went through him . When I described him as wearing a red shirt, my older brother teased me and said this was the Civil war and the English wore red in the Revolution... But my father pressed me for whatever other description I could offer. I said that his bayonet was fixed and his rifle was very long... His hat was the style of the north... and his pants were rather baggy and dark... He was tall and lean...His hair was a sandy color and his eyes were a grey/blue,,,.
and just a few years ago, when my son was a firefighter, something prompted me to search on Google , and lo and behold.... there was the uniform I remembered... Zouave soldiers from NY...For whatever reason, I had always focused on THE BLUE AND THE GREY ... I never knew there was such a thing as a Zouave soldier until then... and they were FIREFIGHTERS who volunteered to fight!
"The second uniform was issued when the first, not made of quality materials, fell apart on most men.[13] This uniform was issued by the federal government, and to the disgust of the men, was not of the true Zouave style, but an American Zouave style. The new uniform had a dark blue Zouave jacket with red cuffs and red trimming with sky blue trimming inside the red. Blue fezzes with blue tassels were issued to provide greater flair to the uniform, as well as dark blue sashes, an issue of red overshirts (not firemen's shirts), and dark blue trousers.[11] Before the First Battle of Bull Run, most of the Zouaves left their jackets in camp due to the July heat, however, they all retained their blue and red fezzes, and their red blue banded kepis."
... I also read that most fought without their jackets on because it was July... one thing my father had told me... as he said to imagine fighting in that heat.... It was really hot when we were there ... the end of June 1957 , when I was 6 years old
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_New_York_Infantry
Years later, when I was 13 or so, and we had moved into a new house, I would stay up late and play my guitar and write songs after everyone else was asleep... and I began hearing what sounded like heavy booted footsteps coming up the stairs... Dad said maybe it was the soldier I had seen and that he might have followed me home... I hadn't even thought about that in years, but HE remembered... and a year or so later, we went on vacation, and when we got home there were black streaks up the stairs and down the hall and into my room...as if someone had dragged their feet a bit waling down the hall. (They didn't come right off either, although the floor was shiny and waxed.).As I looked in my room, I saw the impression of someone laying on my bed... It was there for a few minutes, but when I called to others in my family to come ans see it... it began to fade...
Weird? but true
And another few years passed and my mother caught sight of someone about to sneek up the stairs... He saw her as she saw him and he took long steps and dashed up... He had sandy color hair and was tall like the soldier was... She took him to be the guy I was dating at the time, until she realized .... he wasn't really there
Examples of Fire Zouaves 11th Infantry from NY with their red shirts and blue pants:
(Copy and paste to browser for photos)
https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+zouave+soldiers+red+shirts&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:Cfz7eOlWGGIqIjhQVExU_1FklUnJ050GhCH7hl1-o5-xmjDtvYRbE3zK6Z-8ASzF1AevIi8etDrkAaG1zM5jQZ0LzaSoSCVBUTFT8WSVSER3reSwk7PiIKhIJcnTnQaEIfuERVGd5udedMxsqEgmXX6jn7GaMOxF8VuS1P7G4QSoSCW9hFsTfMrpnET87WubzIA8_1KhIJ7wBLMXUB68gRwu_1p0TuQtbIqEgmLx60OuQBobRGe3IXGiGkTDyoSCXMzmNBnQvNpEXDeremMmn7-&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOivGS7_faAhVum-AKHeanDnkQ9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1152&bih=602&dpr=1.25
*Go to "GHOSTS OF GETTYSBURG (DOCUMENTARY)" on YouTube ( The URL won't hyperlink)
The experience I had was definitely of a ghost. He jumped out of a trench and dashed in front of the car, and the car went through him . When I described him as wearing a red shirt, my older brother teased me and said this was the Civil war and the English wore red in the Revolution... But my father pressed me for whatever other description I could offer. I said that his bayonet was fixed and his rifle was very long... His hat was the style of the north... and his pants were rather baggy and dark... He was tall and lean...His hair was a sandy color and his eyes were a grey/blue,,,.
and just a few years ago, when my son was a firefighter, something prompted me to search on Google , and lo and behold.... there was the uniform I remembered... Zouave soldiers from NY...For whatever reason, I had always focused on THE BLUE AND THE GREY ... I never knew there was such a thing as a Zouave soldier until then... and they were FIREFIGHTERS who volunteered to fight!
"The second uniform was issued when the first, not made of quality materials, fell apart on most men.[13] This uniform was issued by the federal government, and to the disgust of the men, was not of the true Zouave style, but an American Zouave style. The new uniform had a dark blue Zouave jacket with red cuffs and red trimming with sky blue trimming inside the red. Blue fezzes with blue tassels were issued to provide greater flair to the uniform, as well as dark blue sashes, an issue of red overshirts (not firemen's shirts), and dark blue trousers.[11] Before the First Battle of Bull Run, most of the Zouaves left their jackets in camp due to the July heat, however, they all retained their blue and red fezzes, and their red blue banded kepis."
... I also read that most fought without their jackets on because it was July... one thing my father had told me... as he said to imagine fighting in that heat.... It was really hot when we were there ... the end of June 1957 , when I was 6 years old
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_New_York_Infantry
Years later, when I was 13 or so, and we had moved into a new house, I would stay up late and play my guitar and write songs after everyone else was asleep... and I began hearing what sounded like heavy booted footsteps coming up the stairs... Dad said maybe it was the soldier I had seen and that he might have followed me home... I hadn't even thought about that in years, but HE remembered... and a year or so later, we went on vacation, and when we got home there were black streaks up the stairs and down the hall and into my room...as if someone had dragged their feet a bit waling down the hall. (They didn't come right off either, although the floor was shiny and waxed.).As I looked in my room, I saw the impression of someone laying on my bed... It was there for a few minutes, but when I called to others in my family to come ans see it... it began to fade...
And another few years passed and my mother caught sight of someone about to sneek up the stairs... He saw her as she saw him and he took long steps and dashed up... He had sandy color hair and was tall like the soldier was... She took him to be the guy I was dating at the time, until she realized .... he wasn't really there
Examples of Fire Zouaves 11th Infantry from NY with their red shirts and blue pants:
(Copy and paste to browser for photos)
https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+zouave+soldiers+red+shirts&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:Cfz7eOlWGGIqIjhQVExU_1FklUnJ050GhCH7hl1-o5-xmjDtvYRbE3zK6Z-8ASzF1AevIi8etDrkAaG1zM5jQZ0LzaSoSCVBUTFT8WSVSER3reSwk7PiIKhIJcnTnQaEIfuERVGd5udedMxsqEgmXX6jn7GaMOxF8VuS1P7G4QSoSCW9hFsTfMrpnET87WubzIA8_1KhIJ7wBLMXUB68gRwu_1p0TuQtbIqEgmLx60OuQBobRGe3IXGiGkTDyoSCXMzmNBnQvNpEXDeremMmn7-&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOivGS7_faAhVum-AKHeanDnkQ9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1152&bih=602&dpr=1.25
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