August winds are whirling through the leaves, shaking out the last applause for summer. The applause is well-deserved. For me, the season's magnificent dawns burst like smiles, laughed all day in freedom, and perhaps only at dusk grew sad over what was not shared. There is an honesty about summer, as if by stripping off our winter clothes our souls become exposed. That is reversed in nature. The Earth dresses for summer and undresses for winter, as if to be purified by the cold. I love winter – the purification, the redemption. Maybe that's because I can only live naked. My soul is always naked. Even if it's in secret. Or with a soulmate. Contradiction? Not really. There is a difference between wearing facades and living them.
May you live naked. :-)
And is your train pulling into the station or out? Are you trying to hang onto that superb summer's freedom with a last hurrah or two, or are you celebrating the return of fall with its schedules and regimens? Some people are lost when they are free. They need to be owned by structure. Too much of either one – freedom or structure – can be terrible, but I'm always surprised at how few people seem to understand freedom or what to do with it. When they get some they either stop functioning and veg out or rush around frantically trying to do something. The only sustainable use of freedom I know is to explore, grow, learn, think, imagine, feel and – above all – overcome inertia in some way every day. Again, it seems like some people try to overcome inertia by structuring freedom in a sudden frenzy of spending or travel, taking exotic trips but really going nowhere, then returning to stagnant lives. I don't think it works that way. You have to overcome inertia in everything you normally do. It has to be incorporated into who you are.
My biking bud, rock lead singer Tommy D, overcame a little too much inertia when he biked around a blind curve at about 20 mph and collided with his counterpart. Broke his wrist and put a tooth (his) through his lip, but when he went off in the ambulance he was worrying about his bike! I love biking with Tommy. Sometimes we belt out old rock classics at each other, echoing through tunnels, and struggling up hills. We’ve been known to do that for as much as 30 miles. Let it be known that even though Tommy is always warning me to slow down at intersections, he’s the one who got a speeding ticket on his bike and had the accident. This is because I use training wheels and max out at 3 mph.
And you can't fall off a saxophone, which is what I have been pursuing most days. A professional photographer – Karie Lake – came by with her children to listen one day and asked if she could take some photos. She does superb stylings and has included three shots of moi & T-sax in the Portfolio on her website: http://www.lakephotographyonline.com/ . I've also caved to fans & friends who have dared me to go on YouTube with the world's worst sax playing (har-har, I have my Mrs. Miller fantasies). Tried to use a WebCam for the first video, which has 2 songs on it, but its limited mic made everything brassy, so, on the last half I dubbed-in a regular mic and added a slideshow. Then I posted a second video – not my usual kind of music, but here it is: http://www.youtube.com/user/Sullysax1#p/a/u/0/d49rY3FQ5ic . I'll be posting more sax videos, and there's a free subscriber button if you want to be notified.
You can tell how big a hit my vanity is taking over the sax playing by the fact that this month's column over on StorytellersUnplugged tries to define respect and describe some things about it that are important to writers and thinking people alike. Here's that link: http://storytellersunplugged.com/thomassullivan/2010/09/16/thomas-sullivan-zen-pot-throwing-combat-boots-128-squirrels/
Late breaking news here in Maple Grove is a houseguest visit from none other than Mark "Doc Foto" Manrique and his wife Karen. The evil Doctor “gargoyled” us in one of the shots below, as well as putting us in a Motown 5 pix (that's Karen & Mark on the far right – har, har, what a political irony); there are 3 photos from the Dominican as well to go with my column this month (the one of the child's face through the hole in the wall was taken by my friend Bruce Norby); and then there are 2 of Mark and I hiking in Elm Creek; and finally a pair of Karie Lake’s photos of the sax session at Weaver Lake.
May I also invite you to follow me on Twitter? Or simply click this link anytime: http://twitter.com/thomassullivan . Samples of recent Tweets: “Dreaming without the courage to act is like sitting in a car without pushing the gas pedal.” And “I'm dumb, but extremely loyal. I like that about myself.” Your thoughts are welcome, your attention valued.
Thomas
“Sully” Sullivan
http://www.thomassullivanauthor.com
http://twitter.com/thomassullivan
