Favorite Places by Ricky

I have many “favorite places” depending upon which part of my life I am remembering.  Only a few can be called absolute favorites throughout my life.  What follows is only a listing of those places which are withstanding the ravages of time upon my memories.

These places are listed in no particular "favorite" order.

1.   Disneyland – Peter Pan Ride (I first rode this in 1955)

2.   Disneyland – Alice in Wonderland Ride (I first rode this in 1955)

3.   Lake Tahoe – Emerald Bay (My first summer home at Lake Tahoe – 1958)

4.   LDS Manti Temple (Deborah and I married here in 1973)

5.   Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota (I recharge my patriotism here)

6.   Epcot Center – Journey Into Imagination with Figment (My family LOVED this ride.  We rode it three times in a row without getting off the ride to reenter.  This link is for the newest version not the one we saw years ago.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuPr7G-uBmM

  

7.   BSA Camp Winton (I was a boy camper 2 years and on the “Staph” in 1966.  The “staph” spelling was my idea.  My name is recorded around the “XX” brand left of center.)

8.   Disneyland Paris – Space Mountain (My youngest daughter, her friend boy, and I rode this twice.) 

  

9.   Step-father’s Tour Boat (I was his deckhand all summer in 1958)

10.   The California Redwood forest at Trees of Mystery.  Specifically, the “Cathedral Trees.”

Cathedral Tree video 1:48 minutes.

The Redwoods

Joseph B. Strauss

Here, sown by the Creator's hand.
In serried ranks, the Redwoods stand:
No other clime is honored so,
No other lands their glory know.

The greatest of Earth's living forms,
Tall conquerors that laugh at storms;
Their challenge still unanswered rings,
Through fifty centuries of kings.

The nations that with them were young,
Rich empires, with their forts far-flung,
Lie buried now-their splendor gone:
But these proud monarchs still live on.

So shall they live, when ends our days,
When our crude citadels decay;
For brief the years allotted man,
But infinite perennials' span.

This is their temple, vaulted high,
And here, we pause with reverent eye,
With silent tongue and awestruck soul;
For here we sense life's proper goal:

To be like these, straight, true and fine,
to make our world like theirs, a shrine;
Sink down, Oh, traveler, on your knees,
God stands before you in these trees.

© 7 July 2013

About the Author 

I was born in June of 1948 in Los Angeles, living first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach.  Just prior to turning 8 years old in 1956, I began living with my grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years during which time my parents divorced.

When united with my mother and stepfather two years later in 1958, I lived first at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, California, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966.  After three tours of duty with the Air Force, I moved to Denver, Colorado where I lived with my wife and four children until her passing from complications of breast cancer four days after the 9-11 terrorist attack.

I came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010.   I find writing these memories to be therapeutic.

My story blog is, TheTahoeBoy.Blogspot.com.

Endless Joy by Lewis

I have several thoughts on this topic--

1) Anything that goes on endlessly will eventually become Hell itself. This is why I have never been particularly attracted to the concept of Heaven. In fact, the promise often made to folks is that if they would only conform to whatever criteria a particular religion has established for admission, they will experience "endless joy", albeit without any of those accoutrements of life on earth that generally make it enjoyable.

2) "Joy" itself is a nebulous and elusive concept. Attaining joy is not as simple as making a day trip to Disney World. It's true that one of the most joyful moments of my life occurred while I was at Disney World. But the laser light show at Epcot Center, coordinated with the Finale to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, would not have been one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life without the lunar eclipse synchronized perfectly with the music.

3) "Joy" can be attained from the most ordinary of life's experiences if the psyche is receptive. Even the realization that one's days-long bout of constipation is over can be joyful if one has a receptive frame-of-mind.

4) "Joy" can be very difficult to recognize if one is in chronic pain, either physical or psychological. Joy is as much about the body as it is about the mind.

5) "Joy" is like chocolate--to partake of it excessively will lead to misery. Before long, you will develop an aversion to it.

6) "Joy" is often recognized best in retrospect. In reading Laurin's journals from eight, nine, ten years ago, I can see how full and marvelous our lives were then.

7) The level of "joy" that I experience is symbiotically related to the way that I treat others. I cannot make others feel joyful, however. I can only let them know how much joy they bring to me.

8) "Joy" is not a function of where I am in the world or who I am with or what I am doing. It is a function of loving myself unconditionally.

© 6 January 2014

About the Author

    I came to the beautiful state of Colorado out of my native Kansas by way of Michigan, the state where I married and had two children while working as an engineer for the Ford Motor Company. I was married to a wonderful woman for 26 happy years and suddenly realized that life was passing me by. I figured that I should make a change, as our offspring were basically on their own and I wasn't getting any younger. Luckily, a very attractive and personable man just happened to be crossing my path at that time, so the change-over was both fortuitous and smooth.

Soon after, I retired and we moved to Denver, my husband's home town. He passed away after 13 blissful years together in October of 2012. I am left to find a new path to fulfillment. One possibility is through writing. Thank goodness, the SAGE Creative Writing Group was there to light the way.