Wallkill NWR September 30, 2017

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Celery Farm September 27, 2017

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nature man

Psssst.  If you see a man fast walking

The trail around the Celery Farm

Follow him at a distance and you may discover

Where he is going and what he is doing.

You’ll likely see him stop and greet many people

As he seems to know everyone who goes there

So you might think for him it’s just a social walk

But most often he has a different objective.

To find out you need be careful that he doesn’t see you

Because he has many secrets he is keeping

Told to him in confidence by the regulars

Who frequent this nature preserve.

I too am one of those people who report to him

And once he showed me a hidden chrysalis

Pointing discreetly with his hand by his hip

As he looked all around to make sure no one else saw.

Exhorting me to tell no one the location

Wanting to protect it from harm from thoughtless people

Encouraging this precious specimen of a threatened species

To go forth and multiply in this tiny island of wildlife habitat.

One time I chanced to meet him on his rounds

When he told me where to see a monarch caterpillar

But as we walked together in that direction

He suddenly said goodbye and headed off another way.

I suppose he had something more special hidden away

Some reclusive existence not being shared that day

Which got me thinking I should observe him as wildlife

To watch for his covert behavior disclosing some undercover presence.

To reveal this information now marks me as untrustworthy

Not worthy to receive the whispered details of any further sightings

Shunned perhaps for violating an unwritten code of conduct

Having stepped outside the lines to watch the watchers.

But I think I have been sufficiently cryptic about him

Matching some cryptic messages he has sent me

That his sense of humor will prevail as he contemplates

The image of this nature man disappearing into the woods.

a little praise

A little praise goes a long way

Advice given by a teacher retired after 38 years

She who is in her nineties with her wits intact

Living in the same house for 64 years.

We visit your aunt to hear her reminisce

To see the photographs and handmade crafts

To tour her garden that is her joy

To learn and remember family history.

The lives of her grandparents, parents and herself

Spanning more than a century of human events

Recounted in a collage of memories

Some perhaps intended for our ears only.

Most people carry with them personal information

Passed to them by grandparents and parents

Carried into our own passing years adding our own recall

Looking back one hundred years becomes recent days.

We hear stories of working class immigrants

Making their way from England to Canada

And of her parents moving to Detroit in the 1920’s

Where her father found work building brick factory kilns.

Not so much is said about the struggle to survive

Hard times in the Great Depression

Or working her way through college after the War

Rather better to remember the happy times later.

Moving to a new brick house after graduating

Out by 13 mile road where she could find work teaching

Close enough to the factory where her mother worked

The two of them keeping company.

Where you visited as a child, you also living in Michigan

Close enough to spend time with your aunt growing up

Your grandmother adoring her sweet grandchildren

That house and yard holds so many memories.

Your aunt taking care of her ailing mother late in life

Even as she continued to work full time

That was the most difficult time with little help

Managing somehow to do whatever needed to be done.

Retired life for this teacher brought a second career

Partnering with a friend from teaching days having fun

Conducting estate sales becoming an expert appraiser

Enjoying being on the inside discovering antiques.

I know of some of the people your aunt has helped

Some of the kind things that she has done for others

So I know for sure what a good person she is

Keeping up, keeping on as best as she can.

Today inner city Detroit has a section called ghost town

Having seen industry leave her great city down and out

Your aunt is proud of the grit of the people living here now

As a new wave of immigrants brings the next iteration.

If you live a long life death will take friends and family

Leaving us to cherish who we have for the time being

Keeping shards of stories passed through the generations

We praise a little like she said and respect a lot.

Now we are the keepers of the archives

Several beautiful quilts and rugs

Photograph keepsakes from long ago

A pendulum wall clock made by your father

A collection of Inuit stone carvings

A folding rocking chair like those taken on the Oregon Trail

Framed artwork admired over a lifetime

All imbued with the history of their provenance.

Each artifact connects to a story told to us

For us to remember and tell again as we hold it

To keep alive this oral tradition from the past

Given with her unique lively personal touch.