Memories | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “Memories”

07 Jun 2013

Bearing The Wait

The longest day must have its end

Every man must lose a friend

Time won’t wait for any hater

Dying can’t be done any later

So mourn the sick, bury the dead, and let the words flow free

The only answers to love gone bad will never come to me

It seems like today will never end, tomorrow isn’t coming

A crowd of people stare at you; they’re so cold its numbing

[Bridge]

If love is timid, it’s not true

Life is what you make it do

Love the truth, pardon error

Ask the mirror who’s the fairer

Fight for your wants, build your wills, and be satisfied you’re living

It may only be a silent love, but love is for the giving

Ask the questions in your mind, hope is right for now

A time will come when you will know, you’ll do it anyhow

[Chorus]

The longest day must have its end

Every man must lose a friend

Time won’t wait for any hater

Dying can’t be done any later

This is from a song I wrote in January 1974. It really didn’t mean anything in particular if I recall (it has been a while) but I was just breaking up with a girlfriend at the time and I am sure I was heart-struck some how. I will have to get these songs documented somehow. It is funny how even all these years later I remember the melody of it. From “Love Songs for a Lonely Night” © MGert 1974

Posted in Poems, Prayers and Promises and tagged Acceptance, Change, Love Songs, Lyrics, Memories, Music, Online Writing, Poems, Poetry, Self-Awareness, Verse

06 Jun 2013

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From The Summer Porch

Relaxing on the front porch. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days of June remind me of this verse I wrote many years ago…..

A quiet morning followed by a humid afternoon worth rambling

From the front porch you can hear the city working out its living

Bicycles click by, their passengers running a soft breeze toward the lake

Mid-afternoon heating the sidewalk and shuffling the insects

All is still as the sirens chase a distant problem in the mid-town

Suburban AM radio blasts sunbathers in a nearby crabgrass yard

Cloudless days one after another sweating out the summer sky

The five o’clock whistles blow in unison from the smoggy foundry streets

Lines of cars and busses roll by to headlines and bar-b-que dinners

A young couple stroll by acting out a Coke commercial love affair

A red sun casts shadows on the softball cyclone fence unlimited

Dusty bird coast through the thick air calling sundown songs

Night approaches from the east a chalky sky of grey and blue

The night slips in on cricket calls and a wet wind from the lake

Cars flash lights across the lawnchair porches and picture window lives

It’s another July evening in the Midwest point of view

It’s another calendar sunshine waking on the lake front

As someone said from the window screen “another scorcher coming”

Just a quiet morning followed by a humid afternoon worth rambling

From the front porch you can hear the city working out its living

There were days when I was younger during the summer vacations from school that my friend and I would sit on the porch for the entire day, slumped back on the old chairs that were sitting by the doors. We would open a beer and listen to music and watch the world go by. This was something from those days….

July 25,1976 from “An Even Break” by © MGert

Posted in Poems, Prayers and Promises and tagged Happiness, Hot Summer Days, life is precious, Memories, Poetry, relaxing, Remembering Summer, Verse

27 May 2013

Memorial Day & The Beginning of Summer

When I was a kid this holiday weekend signified the beginning of summer.

Memorial Day ( in the US) is a day for all of us Americans to remember the fallen military that have made this country great and to honor those who are living and dead, that fought in wars big and small for the freedom that every person should have.

It is also the time for some fond recollection of a time when school would be wrapping up for summer break, graduation time and celebration for those who were done with school and ready to move on. It was a time of dreams and opportunity. The anticipation for the beginning of summer came with a lot of images.

There would be songs on the radio that would become anthems for that summer and forever trigger those memories for so many years to come. In my younger days we would sing along to the AM radio while cruising in the car (oh for gas to be that low priced again). It was the soundtrack for growing-up. The music of fun and romance.

There was also sun and fun at the water with friends, with towels and “sun-tan” lotion ( I still remember the smell of coco-nut). Just spending time under the sun for the entire day, with cold beer and Frisbees. Taking the long walk down the beaches to find driftwood (among the dried up fish and noisy gulls), and chilling on the shore with wet sand and water hitting at your toes.

As the summer progressed there was much to look forward to. The heart of the baseball season, the 4th of July parades, picnics and fireworks. Traveling up north to send time on in-land lakes fishing , running the boats and sitting by the night-fires. There was a lot of magical times.

Of course I remember them fondly, and yes— a bit more cloudy now I suppose. More of the good than the bad. More of the sounds and smells, of the times that were captured in the adolescent mind I guess. But they were great, and we all knew they wouldn’t last forever so many of us embraced them as much as we could. We spent those lazy days stoking our dreams of fortune and fame ( I was in a rock band back then – imagining that big break that never came). Daring autumn to wait while we took in the moments of memories.

But all of that wouldn’t be possible without the fine men and women who have been part of the armed services during the entire history of the US. Those dedicated people who ask so little and give so much. They allowed some of the rest of us to dream, to embrace the times of freedom and opportunity. Thanks to them, celebrating Memorial Day in America.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged aviation, being remembered, cherish, fond recollection, History, Holidays, Honoring the troops, Memorial Day, Memories, Music, Postive Thinking, Summer, The Seasons, United States

19 Mar 2013

The World in Your Pocket

Smartphones have changed how we live our lives. I think it is amazing that in my lifetime so many things have changed, but this is a historical time when smartphones/cell phones have really made a permanent impact on my family.

The camera inside alone, sitting in everyone’s pocket allows very little of life’s imperfections to pass by. Now every mistake, every victory, every catastrophe, every violent act, every special moment can be recorded and broadcast out into the world-wide web to be permanently entered in the cyber record. It is “instant”. Since there are so many cameras in so many pockets, and every person can choose where to point it- even the subject matter can be managed by our individual point of view.

Things off the top of mind:

You are never alone (if you chose to be). “Social” has a much different meaning today. Not only text, but real-time pictures and videos change your perception of how you are connected to humans in your family to around the world in places you’d only read about.

You have access to what seems like infinite information. Like I have blogged before the friendly argument on a bar-stool at the local pub has changed forever. Just Google it. Share your opinion, it could be news in an hour.

You have access to hundred of thousands of books (probably millions). It is like having the entire library in your pocket. Summon (and pay for it) and you are ready to read things that may have been lost in the back-stacks at your city library.

You have entertainment where ever you want it; those long waits in line, those down-times when you are just looking for something to keep your mind going. Movies, music, even art are at your finger tips.

There’s a new definition of “getting lost”. It may mean that your Google Maps or navigation application may not be working correctly. Or that your battery has died I suppose. But stop and ask for directions? Hmmm.

That is just a start. I couldn’t have imagined as a child that every one would have their own phone numbers, their own built-in answering machine. That you could make long distance calls with a phone in your pocket without thinking about the “long distance” charges. That you could conference friends and family together and perhaps even see their expressions – from something that you would be holding in your hand. Virtually anywhere.

So I marvel at the idea of where my children will access the world when they are my age.

Decades from now there will be something our children cannot fathom, but I wonder what it is?

Today, they see the technology advances as a matter-of-fact. It will happen and it will evolve. What will be their marvel?

Posted in Before and After Things Change and tagged Acceptance, Cell Phones, Change, gadgets, Google, Memories, Reality Check, Science and Technology, technology, tracks in the dust

26 Feb 2013

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Poems, Prayers and Promises [February Edition]

MGert Concert Picture

Since January I have added a new page to http://www.tracksinthedust.com.

I have dredged up some old lyrics and poetry in the page above called The Songs and Poems of Another Time.

For the most part all from the mid-70’s ( for many of you before you were born).

But they were rooted in rock and folk music at the time. Inspiration for stuff that has long sat in spiral-bound notebooks that collected dust over the years. I told my kids I would pull out some of them I was fond of and capture them here. [Yup, that’s me many years ago when rock was younger and so was I).

For those of you who are following, thanks for the indulgence. I kindly recap the February entries here with links.