Silver spaceship…
I went to ‘be’ at the 1st tee of the Fraserview golf course as part of my re-search on the course of LIFE…
As I approached the green a foursome rolled past me…
The last individual,
an Ismaili man in his late sixties,
noticed the books I was carrying and inquired into the absence of my clubs…
I said,
I’m going to start playing by watching…
He said,
YOU must apply yourself to the game…
I said,
I will…
after I spend some time activating my prior knowledge…
At that point he took off his mirrored sunglasses and looked at me,
sideways,
and subjectively,
with a knowing smile…
Just like he remembered when we used to play together on St. Andrews,
in kilts,
back in the 15th or 16th century…
I told my daughter, Starshine about this over linguine and spot prawns…
She asked,
Weren’t you scared???!!!
to say things like that???!!!
I said,
No,
for the first time in a long time I wasn’t…
Something in me knew that he would understand what I was pointing at,
or I wouldn’t have said it…
And I didn’t rehearse,
it just came out…
And then Starshine said,
I don’t know why I’m scared to talk about those things…
The most dis-connected people get it at some level…
Even Papa knows…
Night has always pushed up day...
Detective work…
I’ve found that watching NHL hockey,
with my daughters provides ample opportunity,
for conversation,
about how we want to be,
in the world…
Some of the questions they ask me are not that easy to answer…
I’ve never been one for rules,
or games,
so I don’t always know why the play stops,
or carries on…
I understand about the lines,
and why players don’t spend that much time on the ice,
in one stretch…
I’m starting to see how coaches determine match ups against the opposing team…
And although I’m not sure I’d want to watch my offspring smashed into boards,
and throwing down gloves,
I can get my head around some physicality,
and a good fight…
Like a hockey player,
in The Thirteenth Pearl,
Nancy Drew learns that it is important to spend time at the gym to build upper body strength as detective work may require fending off a vicious hair pulling…
I always thought hair-pulling was a girl strategy,
but I’ve seen the biggest swingers root their fingers into a few pelts,
on the ice…
Starshine, Little Gem and I talk about the ethics of fighting…
We partially support Gino Odjick when he says,
There’s a place for fighting in hockey,
but it doesn’t win games…
My girls also want to know about the women who dress like their daughters,
with the same big bottle blond hair and EVERYTHING hanging out of their Zambonis…
Why do they keep showing that woman shooting the puck at half-time,
over and over and over,
during the break???
Why is that woman sitting in the kitchen with her coffee when her husband has lost everything he needs to get to work.
and he can’t get his car out of the garage,
because his tire is flat?
Why is that woman smiling while her husband arranges flowers?
Is it because the flowers are for her?
She looks like she’s faking her smile…
The questions are fired faster than the possibility of revealing some answers,
mostly because,
as a parent,
how do you explain the thinking and doing of others when your standard operating procedures are so profoundly different???
How do you explain,
to your young daughters,
that there are women who believe that they can’t get to where they want to be in the world without bedding a professional athlete???
And that men who are loaded with skill and perception continue to fall for an age old routine???
How do men explain what they see on television,
during professional hockey games,
to their sons???!!!
I can guarantee you that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to Google, viagra+what is? while you’re unconsciously busy squeezing hot sauce on your intermission smokie…
As a teacher I’ve seen a whole lot of six year old boys with better search engine potential than their fathers…
I weep because it is true…
Don’t we want our children to know that there is so much more to a rich life than doing three sit ups in a lounge chair from Canadian Tire,
while your wife pokes fun at your burn…
Or that a good and happy partnership does not start by giving your chi away to an incomplete stranger…
One can only hope,
perhaps by osmosis,
or through alignment,
that the core message,
know thyself,
gets through,
loud and clear…
Octopus’ garden…
I’ve been reading the teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge,
by Carlos Castaneda,
and thinking about hockey,
and feeling,
philosophical…
I wonder about finding a spot where one can sit without fatigue…
A place where a man can feel happy and strong…
Does this happen in a stadium,
regardless of whether one is a player,
or a spectating fan???
don Juan tells Carlos to feel with the eyes as he tries to find his spot (sitio)…
That one can feel with the eyes,
when the eyes are not looking,
right into things…
Do we get any coaching to find the two spots,
that are the key to our well-being,
especially for a man who is pursuing knowledge?
The good spot called the sitio and the bad one,
the enemy?
When I look at hockey fans,
I see that most people watching a hockey game,
have not found their spot…
They have not found a way to replenish energy,
by sitting in their spot,
and therefore are weakened by the enemy,
instead of creating superior strength…
don Juan tells Carlos,
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war,
wide-awake,
with fear,
respect,
and with absolute assurance.
Going to knowledge or going to war [or going to hockey],
in any other manner is a mistake,
and whoever makes it,
will live to regret his steps…
What do fans full of self-doubt,
reflect onto,
their home team?
If we really are all Canucks,
and we really are all canucked,
how does a vibration of doubt,
reverberate through the stands,
the stadium,
the city,
and over long distances,
onto the ice,
of the oppposing team?
Remember game five against Chicago,
when Mats scored that goal,
and was SO happy…
I was in Costco a day or so later,
and heard a man say,
that he has never,
in his life,
experienced,
what happened in that stadium,
when Mats scored THAT goal…
He could feel it coming,
and when it did,
the tension in the crowd,
flew up out of the seats,
and was transformed,
into an energy of experience ,
that was one of a kind…
An energy of experience,
that sounds,
out of this world…
And then remember when things,
didn’t go,
our way,
and the lower level fans,
clearly had a tantrum…
Creating a hurricane of beer cups,
and popcorn,
in a thoughtless act,
of dumping,
their anxious garbage,
onto the ice…
I tell my children,
and my students,
Crying is definitely okay,
but it is not going to get you,
what you want…
How can a team bring home the Stanley Cup,
to a family,
where love turns,
on a dime?
Last week,
in the stream of major life change,
I was feeling,
my doubting heart…
My daughter,
Starshine,
looked at me,
and said,
Mama,
your head is all cloudy,
like you’re not sure…
And the next day I was fishing with Little Gem,
on a dock,
congested,
with desperation…
The fish seemed to have a one rod preference…
A man next to me swung his equipment,
back to cast…
I stepped away,
like I was anticipating,
a hook in my hair,
he hesitated,
and then went for it again…
Once more I moved,
without absolute,
assurance…
He hesitated too,
and said,
his eyes behind the mirrors of sunglasses,
in which I could see my reflection,
You make me doubt myself…
Next season,
don’t go to a Canucks game,
and call yourself,
a fan,
if you can’t hold a frequency,
of absolute assurance…
You’d be wasting energy,
and the playoffs,
especially,
are a time for conservation,
with no reservation…
We are all just waves on the water,
and the world,
around you,
shows all the pieces ,
of the puzzle,
that you hold inside…
Nothing more,
or less…
don Juan tells Carlos that,
Mescalito teaches the proper way of life,
and shows how to live…
Sometimes he shows it on his hand,
or on the rocks,
or the trees,
or just in front of you…
He talks differently to every man…
How will YOU know,
when you’ve heard,
what YOUR power has to say????
I don't know where my soul is... (photo: Starshine)
Canuck'd 