PAPA

I like to walk in the woods

without paths or trails. You see,

I follow Papa. That old man would

cut a walking stick when he’d take

us for a stroll under trees and along

the creek to turn over stones and logs

to see what would crawl out from there.

We kept a reverent quiet and enjoyed

the soft leaves and virgin dirt as it

compressed under our boots.

He would sometimes stick his big hands

down in the gravel and pull out a handful

of pebbles to look through, pick out

the interesting crystals, fossils and such,

then give them to us. He built a room

at the end of his house to curate

his collection of rocks, shells, arrowheads

guns, knives and all the other things that

kept us enthralled. I can see him now,

sitting in his rocker reading textbooks,

anthropology, paleontology, archaeology,

or whatever else tickled his brilliance.

So, when I go for walks, I take a stick

and always look down, because

I follow Papa.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

I'm smiling. Can't help it. Of course you take a stick, along with memories of Papa. I'd do the same. I HAVE done the same, in fact. There are treasures in handfuls of dirt and gravel, if one is only wise enough to reach down and scoop it up. Papa taught you right.

[Vol]

Samuel,
He did indeed... and isn't it a fine thing! All 21 of my first cousins and many interlopers along for the ride... There is nothing I can say that measures his incredible impact.
Vol

[FGFRANKLIN]

This was beautiful to me, the art of manhood in the making. It makes me realize how important a father's roll is in the raising of his sons. My dad was a WWII Navy veteran so he wasn't a pushover. But I remember walking with him in the woods, fishing off the top of a dam and playing tag with him in the yard. He never talked about the war around us. I've carved more than a few walking sticks but I have one from an orchard tree my father planted and it's special, also very beautiful. It's a Japanese red plum that had a honeysuckle vine wrap around it making spirals in the wood and colors. My dad taught me how to shoot, fish and find red garnets in mountain streams. I very much relate to this wonderful write.

[Vol]

FG,
I have a biker friend, though he might be dead by now, Mark 'Tiger' Edmonds. ((You can google him) He was also a Creative Writing Professor at St. Leo's College in Zephyr Hills, Florida. Last time I visited twenty years ago, he said, "You know, Vol, we are the last literary generation." We are the children of Brokaw's" Greatest Generation. Our parents were raised through the Great Depression and went on to conquer the world in WWII. My dad was an Iwo Jima, vet and he never said much about that. They were REAL MEN and REAL WOMEN... the last of them. Strong men build good times, good times build weak men, and weak men build the kind of times we live in now.
Because we have one foot in the good times, we have righteous things to remember, ponder and write about. I'm glad I won't be around long enough to witness the hard times this weak generation is putting together for my progeny. Maybe my writings will be of some comfort to them...
Vol

[FGFRANKLIN]

I can relate to that too and empathize greatly. I have grandchildren and a young daughter so I think about the world they will inherit and it makes me fearful for them but what can I do but tell them how things were and hope they understand that trials of misfortune breed character and independence as well as an appreciation for the things we have earned in life. I wrote a short story about my youth called, Changing of the Guard (after Dylan's song) but some happy hacker destroyed the file. I don't even know if I have a hard copy left. My brother who served in Vietnam was telling his wife about our childhood and she couldn't believe it so she asked one of my sisters who told it was all true but probably watered down accounts of our lives. It was a survivalist existence to be sure.

[Thomas W Case]

Fantastic work. The emotion is conveyed well.

[Dave Brown]

very nice

[Betty Hermelee]

What a heartfelt tale, walking in your father's steps, following all the curiosity he gave to you,...It reminds me a bit of my husband's collection of snakes, moles, voles, birds all in alcohol jars and the little grandchildren then were fascinated and eager to learn of these creatures... only brings out the best in all of us..following your father's adventures is a precious way to admire him and keep up family traditions.
Well written, enjoyed it.
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Thank you, Betty!
Papa and Mama were my grandparents. I don't know how they did it, but they raised seven sons and two daughters through the Great Depression and WWII. You'd think that was enough, but no, they had to put up with the stairstep invasion of their 21 grandkids who dropped in for week-ends and summers for much of their senior years, My dad was the youngest son, so I was in the generation who were there through their late fifties, all their sixties and my kids into their eighties. They were married for 76 years. Theirs is the most powerful influence on my life.
Vol

[Betty Hermelee]

wow, amazing story....no wonder the influence...
I get it!
Warmly, B

[Vol]

It was deep... We were a Clan... even when I was only eight or nine,I'd walk down town and adults would cross the street and say "Whose boy are you?" I'd say "Jeth's."
my cousin would say Waynes"
"OH! I know your dad! He used to..."
It was weird, and I wasn't sure what to think... but to this day all my sons and cousins feel like a clan.

[Lorry]

I love walking in the woods too Vol. We have trsils ar rge end of our garden and it has a push me pull you gate on it, that we only need to walk a third of a mile before all the paths open in all directions, with colour coded marks for beginner, some experience or difficult routes as well as quite a few climbs too.
Katie has a fancy pants shop bought stick, but i still use the one i cut from a tree in my childhopd home. (as an adult. I didnt keep it from mini me-hood though)
I think i took it from my mums brothers, who all lovedoutdoor living in rural nooks and crannies.
Its good for a poet too, breathing in all that fresh air and earning your supper or breskfast.
Plus, i reckon i got the bargain with a free stick. Katie paid £85 quid for hers (just shy of $100)
I think they saw her coming. 😊

[Vol]

I don't know if I told you, Lorry, but I'm a wood sculptor. I carve faces in twisted old roots and burls I find on treks through the trees... I've carved a few in walking sticks, too... I've sold most everything except a cane I made for an uncle. When he died, I got it back and gave it to my father who used it until he also died. Right after that, I broke my leg and used it for months... still do when my back tells me to. I've got half a dozen walking sticks, because, when I travel I always forget them at home... There are probably eight or ten in my shop waiting to be finished, each with it's own character.
Over here, you would think that everyone in the country lives in the Bedlam wh call New York City. All of American TV and Movies are written by people from New York or Los Angeles. TNo one who lives ANYWHERE else has the strange mental and emotional disorders exhibited by those denizens of concrete and steel who have never laid eyes on a tree that was not planted by someone. Unfortunately, they OWN our voice. ALL poetry, fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, textbooks, commentaries or anything else written or broadcast goes through them. It is no wonder, we are in such a mess, and the world thinks we are what they see through those biased, unnatural eyes...
Give me the outdoors!
Vol

[Lorry]

Vol, no one believes that make believe bullshit and if you ever need to find out what the world really thinks, just look up how many foreign netionals visit each year and while youre there, check out disney gate receipts.
And those who do believe it are pretending they have an sex and the city/Kardashian delusion that if they buy a coffee, that someone else created, they post videos of tgeir exciting life on X or the other billion and sixteen other media platforms.
And if you ever tell them you used to play as a kid with other real people, games like cick the can (like hide and seek with more rattles and annoying sounds) then the next question they ask you is "did yoi have a stick and hoop too! 😊
As you know more about carvings than i, i shall look out a link of Billy connollys world tour of australia, where he visited an amazing artist who made a peace garden out of a forest (yes, you heard right!) where he carved amazing things, like carving such lifelike figures of all the indiginous people who visited him and every one is so unique and lifelike.
Ill look out the episode and send the link to you.
Youll enjoy it. I know you will! 😊

[Lorry]

Apologies, cant find it online but if you get the chance, watch episode 4 of billy connolys world tour of australia. The artists name is Billy rickets and the forest is called William Rickets sanctuary. You might find it on hulu or netflix.
Lorry

[Vol]

I looked... I can't find it either...

[Stella Armour]

Wow how amazing is that ... to have a father teach you about your origins and where you came from ....

[Vol]

He was my grandfather, Born in 1892... got an eighth-grade education better than most colleges can turn out today. I cannot imagine what he would have become had Harvard been in his life.

[Stella Armour]

Think my grandparents could barely read or wrire much more than their names, although they were all in Victorian London which would have been a world away from you .. so much poverty and disease then ..

[Vol]

The cowboys were still fighting Indians when my Grandparents were young, people still went west in covered wagons... Wyatt Earp did not die until 1925.
Vol

[Stella Armour]

Goodness, out lives and ancestry could not be more different, I grew up thinking cowboys and indians were just fictional because there was nothing to relate them to ... just like Tarzan lol

[Vol]

Hahaha! Like Knights in shining armor?

[Stella Armour]

yes but we did really have knights in shining armour,
that isn't fictional lol..

[Stella Armour]

Were there ever real knights?
Medieval knights were different. They were warriors trained to fight in armour, generally on horseback. And they stood out above other warriors because, crucially, they'd been 'knighted' in a special ceremony

[Vol]

Knights and cowboys... Real and necessary