Far Away

SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2010


Far Away

I got up this morning with the specific intention to write about my sister. Of course I have three sisters who live in galaxies far, far away but this was to be about only one of them.

Today, that sister is putting even more distance between us. She is loading herself and no more than the allowed luggage (that they don’t charge extra for) on a jet plane to fly to another city in America so she can fly to another city in Europe. It is very exciting for her because this time she is taking her husband on her trip to the other continent. Although I am pretty sure they did I can’t remember them ever going anywhere together they couldn’t drive to in a day. It is a long hop over the pond to ride on a fast train, take a boat up the Rhine and visit with a friend she has known since grade school.

I had forgotten the visiting an old friend part but seeing as this friendship wasn’t since their first day of kindergarten it is no huge deal. My sister transferred to St. Coleman’s Elementary School when we moved four months into her third grade. As far as I know this is her oldest friend. They went to school together and wore the same color cap and gown on the same day to the same college graduation.


Natalie Goldberg had a old friend from far away in Allen Ginsberg. I am pretty sure in a left handed kind of way she dedicated the book of that name to him. I thought possibly the verse she used as dedication might have come from him. I haven’t read the entire book yet. I am thinking now no; probably the dedication was not by Ginsberg, especially after Googling. I still think though the title was in his honor.

"Thank you
Sky and tree
Big and small
Green and red"

Without the quotes the entire stanza above brought “About 2,190,000 results (0.45 seconds)”… pretty popular words in our written language if their occurrence is random in a document somewhere on the interweb. With the quotes it hit “1 result (0.57 seconds)”:

“Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir - Google Books Result
Natalie Goldberg - 2009 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 336 pages

Thank you Sky and tree Big and small Green and red The taste of chocolate Bread and pinto bean This land and other lands Past and future Human, ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=_c4uo8UXDZcC&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=%22thank+you+sky+and+tree+big+and+small+green+and+red%22&source=bl&ots=-ohuusF4Vo&sig=TKGyM8r_ZYUWtsXD1dwlggzp61I&hl=en&ei=aZJBTPjJLML88Abv-qncDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22thank%20you%20sky%20and%20tree%20big%20and%20small%20green%20and%20red%22&f=false

Pages 34 to 312 are not shown in this preview. Learn more."

Of course Google is hawking the book for somebody. I was lucky enough to get it as a gift. The English teacher, out of the kindness of her heart and after reading a few blog entries, decided I needed a little direction. Help could not tip the equation in the wrong direction.

I just heard the grandfather make his announcement that Jo and Glenn are being driven to the airport to get scanned and have their shoes examined for explosives. I sent her two emails yesterday and decided not to read her second reply until after I finished my exercise.

Besides, I talked to her last nite on the phone. I expect though there is some small nugget of surprise in the email… a little quip or a joke, something insightful. I forgot to ask if she got a netbook for the trip. She was looking at them. I know she was so blown away when the iPad was introduced she got a Kindle so I am anxious to know what new electronic device she settled on to read books and email.

Jo is good at sarcastic. I'm hoping sarcastic.

I am sure if that netbook has Bluetooth; Jo is not going to be jamming up the airport wireless networks checking if I have posted anything new here. Reading a vortex is way too much like work.

And Natalie, it took more than ten minutes and I am not going to edit it. Old friends from far away are about to get into the ether to get even farther away.

© 07.17.2010 steven d philbrick SR+ DakotaDawg