April 18, 2011

Birds in the Thicket

   My friend, fellow author and fellow Okie has a wonderful recall of his childhood and when his problems started.
Birds in the Thicket Gerry Bradley

  We stood and peered out on the view at Pier 91, where the Naval Base was and out on Elliott Bay, taking in all of the traffic of the ferryboats and the shipping lanes, with the incoming freighters to track the arrival of Jesse’s vessels.
  I know as I write, it wasn’t the entities, the time, or the place that was of essence. It’s the patterning of all personages as they either did fit, or misfit within my life through those years, which came to be as vast as the leaves blossoming and falling. It had nothing to do with their size, looks, or points on the leaf itself. What was prominent was the placement and behaviorally how my deeds either attracted or pushed away any opportunities of gaining any form of a balanced way to continue.
  At this time in our lives all of us were experiencing, even trying on for size, those who we came to meet and began to know. This didn’t occur only with those we attended school with, but rather all we contacted throughout our lives. No matter what school activities we attended, such as PTA or the All City Affairs, we met new people and had moments of thoroughly enjoying the music as we practiced our steps across the floors.
  Due to our membership, as members of the Seattle Chapter of Demolay we met the Jobs-daughters at Saturday evening dances.
  I realized long ago that all of it was like a natural turn of events. There was an exception for many of us; that was how all of these events were far too much to adapt to, such as when the music took a swing toward the Bop and the Stroll I found as perhaps others did, my feet just wouldn’t move to the beat where some seemed to flow with no problem or effort whatsoever.
  I came to love and respect our home and where it was located to the point I would bound up those flights of stairs from Tenth avenue West, eastbound toward Queen Anne Avenue, to the base of the final set of stairs which took me within blocks of being at school on time. This was the best feeling in the whole world!
  I can see how you are sitting with anticipation as the seasons are taking their natural change. You can sense there is soon to be another shift in the clouds, the mood, that was always effected by the current carrying those damnable ships, that carried much more than the trade, rather, the sense of rhythm of our lives, within our families’ mood and ability to treat such trade winds about to hit us again as a family. AuthorHouse, $15.99
For an autographed copy, contact Gerry: gkbwriter@nventure.com
Quote: "Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book." Unknown, courtesy of A Novel Idea Bookstore, Puyallup