Thursday, November 19, 2015

Geese!


8 comments:

  1. Howard's first, this nineteenth day of dark.

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  2. This 18th C folk ballad, seems apropos to sing as the geese depart...

    Fare thee well
    My own true love
    Farewell for a while
    I'm going away
    But I'll be back
    Though I go 10,000 miles

    10,000 miles
    My own true love
    10,000 miles or more
    The rocks may melt
    And the seas may burn
    If I should not return

    Oh don't you see
    That lonesome dove
    Sitting on an ivy tree
    She's weeping for
    Her own true love
    As I shall weep for mine

    Oh come ye back
    My own true love
    And stay a while with me
    If I had a friend
    All on this earth
    You've been a friend to me

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  3. This week, while sorting through boxes, I came across the VT Times-Argus newspaper from 19 January 2003. There is my name on the front page, above the fold, and my words in the article. I had forgotten just what I'd said. It was the rally in Vermont's capitol when GWB was fixed on going to war with Iraq. I'm pretty sure it was the placard I was carrying that made the reporter ask if I minded making a statement. It is NOT my forte to think on my feet, so there must have been a Higher Power in my thought process that day. I remember pausing in silence for maybe a half minute before speaking.

    THOUSANDS MARCH FOR PEACE
    Rally called one of the largest in Vermont history

    MONTPELIER -- June Schulte has't been to many political demonstrations in her life. In fact, she said Saturday's peaceful march against military action in Iraq was her first.
    But the 47-year-old from Jericho said she feels the United States is close to doing something catastrophic, and she wanted to take part in opposing it.
    "I feel aghast at what our country is doing," said Schulte, holding a sign that read "Educated, aware, and opposed to war with Iraq."
    "This is more huge than people realize." she said. "We're talking about destabilizing a significant portion of the world. We're talking about human suffering on a gigantic scale. How does this exemplify the American way of being?"
    Schulte was among a crowd of marchers that police estimated at 3,000. Carrying signs that included "80 percent approval by fear and cheap gas" and "Regime change at home," they headed through downtown to the snow-covered Statehouse lawn.
    The demonstration in Montpelier, where the temperature was to reach only 12 degrees, was one of the numerous protests around the country as part of a weekend of dissent. …

    There's more to the article, saying that 5 busloads of Vermonters had gone to DC for the protests there, and that all our legislators from Vermont were opposed to the war.

    Despite the sunshine it was bitter bitter cold, and by the time we were ready to leave the Statehouse, our feet were numb!

    If I could articulate at that time that we would be destabilizing a significant portion of the world, sensed that the human suffering would be on a gigantic scale, would be catastrophic, and that it does not exemplify the American way of being, how come Hillary Clinton and so many others didn't see it? Howard Dean did. Vermonters of all stripes got it. Heck, we had Republicans at that rally walking with us!

    Seems so poignant to read that article while watching the repercussions play out nowadays. I wasn't a prophet; it was just common sense.

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  4. Ooh--that sounds familiar! No way to reproduce the tune here, but I know an obviously old tune (maybe pentatonic? Lots of rising and falling minor tones, it seems to this non-musician) with some words in common:

    Oh, I'm goin' away,
    For to stay a little while;
    But I'm comin' back,
    Though I go ten thousand miles.

    Oh who will tie your shoes,
    And who will glove your hands,
    And who will kiss your ruby lips till I come home.

    Look away, look away, over yandro.

    Oh, he's goin' away,
    For to stay a little while,
    But he's comin' back,
    Though he goes ten thousand miles.

    Oh it Mammy will tie my shoes,
    And Daddy will glove my hands,
    And you will kiss my ruby lips when you come home.

    Look away, look away, over yandro.

    --Alan

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  5. Oops--I got Pappy and Mammy reversed, and never memorized several verses:

    I'm goin' away for to stay a little while,
    But I'm comin' back if I go ten thousand miles.
    Oh, who will tie your shoes ?
    And who will glove your hands?
    And who will kiss your ruby lips when I am gone?

    Oh, it's pappy'll tie my shoes,
    And mammy'll glove my hands,
    And you will kiss mg ruby lips when you come back!

    Oh, he's gone, he's gone away,
    For to stay a little while;
    But he's comin' back if he goes ten thousand miles.

    Look away, look away, look away over Yandro,
    On Yandro's high hill, where them white doves are flyin'
    From bough to bough and a-matin' with their mates,
    So why not me with mine?

    For he's gone, oh he's gone away
    For to stay a little while,
    But he's comin' back if he goes ten thousand miles.

    I'll go build me a desrick on Yandro's high hill,
    Where the wild beasts won't bother me nor hear my sad cry
    For he's gone, he's gone away for to stay a little while,
    But he's comin' back if he goes ten thousand miles.
    ==============================

    The sung and played versions I found on youtube are either horribly over-orchestrated or otherwise obviously corrupted. IMO. There's no need for the performers so sound like they are dying.

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  6. so sound = to sound

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  7. Those lyrics I pasted above don't scan. The following works better, I think. Yandro = yonder, I recall; but darned if I know what a desrick is (aside, obviously, from being some sort of shelter). There seems to be a line missing in the part about the white doves.--Alan

    I'm goin' away for to stay a little while,
    But I'm comin' back though I go ten thousand miles.
    Oh, who will tie your shoes ?
    And who will glove your hands?
    And who will kiss your ruby lips when I am gone?

    Look away, look away, look away over yandro.

    Oh, he's goin’ away, for to stay a little while;
    But he's comin' back though he goes ten thousand miles.
    Oh, it's pappy'll tie my shoes,
    And mammy'll glove my hands,
    And you will kiss my ruby lips when you come home.

    Look away, look away, look away over yandro.

    On yandro high hill,
    Where them white doves are flyin',
    From bough to bough and a-matin' with their mates,
    So why not me with mine?

    Look away, look away, look away over yandro.

    I'll build me a desrick on yandro high hill,
    Where wild beasts won't bother me nor hear my sad cry
    For he's gone away, for to stay a little while,
    But he's comin' back though he goes ten thousand miles.

    Look away, look away, look away over yandro.

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  8. listener--I tested a way I found online of refilling those disposable Pilot V-Pens--easy-peasy! (Uses a piece of plastic tubing one can get at the hardware store and a 3ml plastic syringe which I found two of at work.) I found them for $18/box of ten plus postage ($5) from Japan. I would suggest them for learners. Very smooth, pretty rugged, not finicky about just how they touch the paper. I have improved my initials (often used at work), and am experimenting with lower-case "r"'s.

    --Alan

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