My Little Spot In Cyber Space To Kick Back And Comtemplate Life, Politics, Raising Kids while Raising Parents And What It Means To Be A Canadian In A Topsy Turvy World
Death is nothing at all, I have only
slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to
each other, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name, Speak
to me in the easy way you always used. Put not difference in your tone, Wear no
forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little
jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name
be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort,
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant. It is
the same as it ever was, There is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am
out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval,
Somewhere very near, Just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is past;
Nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it
was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet
again!"
~ Canon Henry Scott-Holland,
1847-1918,Canon of St Paul's Cathedral
The fact that I haven't recently doesn't mean that I no longer care or have somehow lost interest ... no, I believe it just somehow summarizes the present state of my life.
But when I came across this video for the very first time today, it having been posted on the Super Secret Neptunus Lex Face Book page, I knew I simply must share it with you. Before it is swallowed up once against in the mist of cyberspace.
And so I shall.
It is beautiful, hauntingly so; don't you agree? There's a hole in the world tonight. Don't let there be a hole in the world tomorrow.
Once upon a time, I asked Lex if he would ever fly again. The question was asked while he was still actively serving, but a few years after he had strapped on a Hornet for the last time. It was beyond clear how much he loved and missed flying so I asked if he would ever consider flying a bugsmasher.
No, he replied, he wouldn't. Something to the effect that having once partaken of government-sponsored crack cocaine, there was no going back to mere commercial flight. I remember thinking that the only cure for that kind of drug must be complete withdrawal.
And it seemed like a reasonable enough response at the time - even though not in my frame of reference (I would jump at the chance to fly any aircraft, bugsmasher or not), I could accept that from his point of view, there simply was no going back.
There was a time and place Not far from here and now Maybe a brighter day Maybe they had it made somehow Living for there and then Under a psychadelic spell No one was listening Still they had so much to tell
But isn't it how funny how time changes things?
Whatever happened to the dreamers They always look beyond the sky Saw a world they could believe in But only when they close their eyes
A mere few years later, Lex took on a weekend job flying tourists and other assorted types in dog-fights, with the occasional learn to fly jaunt thrown in for good measure. And it wasn't long after that, when he took on the challenge of learning to pilot taildraggers.
Next thing I knew, he was back in the fighter pilot game.
There were the politcians Men of the cloth, painters and poets Starting a revolution Without even knowing Making the world around us Making heaven and hell Saying so much about us Still they had so much to tell
You left us much, much too soon, sir.
But you left us living your dream. And for that, I will be forever grateful.
Whatever happened to the dreamers They always looked beyond the sky Saw a world they could believe only when they close their eyes Where are they nowThey've all left town Bringing the clouds
Why are we on our own, why are we on our own
Nothing's ever been this way before A dream is just a dream and nothing more Nothing's ever been this way before A dream is just a dream and nothing more
But that I can follow your example and, no matter what, never give up on my dreams.
Call me by my old familiar name, Speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put not difference in your tone, Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
