My view at the Inauguration

Hello my beautiful friends. This week my heart is overjoyed with love. And just now as I sit down at my compuet to write this week’s blog I turn on my iPod and guess what song starets, David Crosby and Graham Nash doing "My Country Tis of Thee." Let Freedom Ring, gotta love it. I went to the Inauguration and got home yesterday. I am filled with a love for my country, something I’m having trouble articulating to you, but I’ll give it my best. But first I need to preface my experience at the Inauguration with a short story regarding Things Happen For A Reason.
Last summer I was doing an art show when a husband and wife came by. Laura and I got talking and a comment was made about my Hawaiian Whale’s Tail necklace, the very one I wear daily as an endorsement of my pursuit to follow the spirit of Aloha. The conversation turned to a little rock Laura had found and wanted to turn into a necklace. I briefly mentioned when drilling through such a small rock that too much pressure, or too little speed of the drill will crack it. By the end of the conversation I volunteered to drill the rock for her, and then mail it to her three thousand miles away.
Only in the spirit of Aloha could such a simple task of drilling a small rock turn into a beautiful story. I brought the rock into my studio and tried drilling as I have done so many times before on similar projects. It was like this little rock however was made out of titanium – it would have nothing to do with being drilled. Over the next several months I tried different drills and different bits, but the rock remained resistant. I put the little rock on my desk and as I did my daily work I would sometimes contemplate what to do with this little rock. Laura was growing concerned she might never see the rock, and I was growing dismayed with letting her down. The positive atmosphere as prescribed by the spirit of Aloha was absent. The positive energy was gone and I felt bad. I found myself being forced to think. It was here that I discovered this little rock was bringing me, in the spirit of Aloha, the gift of searching for an understanding. I sent Laura the following email:
Hi Laura,
I've been adding good karma to your little rock. Seems this little gem is an attention seeker. Because you have been so wonderfully patient I was trying to surprise you at Christmas with the final product. But, your little rock has been putting up a struggle -- I think it's trying to ensure the highest quality of craftsmanship. I have tried drilling, even tried special drills, but your little rock is resistant. So, I have taken your precious stone with a mind of it's own to a machine shop with special equipment. I tired to get them to drill the hole before Christmas so I could send it to you, but the machine shop couldn't do it in time. They told me it should be ready by tomorrow. I will then add a thin black leather necklace, waxed, so it will never break. The small clasp will be silver. And then it gets shipped to you.
On a side note: I visit Hawaii during the winter. The god Pele has a rule that no rocks are to leave the island without spiritual respect, or bad luck will follow the owner. I believe your little rock made me aware that Pele's rule is to the honored and that this is the reason your little gem asked for a respectful departure from the island of Cape Cod. I will be sending your little rock with peace and well wishes, which is what I think it's wanted all along -- it just needed to give me the time to figure it out. Your little rock is to be cherished for sure -- what a beauty!
Happy New Year to you and your nice husband.
Robert
The beautiful story, the exchange of Aloha, came in Laura’s reply:It's funny because when I gave you the rock, my husband assumed I would never see it again (he's the skeptic of our pair). I disagreed. I believed and trusted you would return it to me. I was touched that you even offered to help me, and I wanted to risk and allow myself to trust and receive your generosity. I'm relieved to know she'll be back with me soon. I'm feeling bad you have to say goodbye to your tiny friend and source of inspiration.
My rock sounds a little like me...we both like good craftsmanship and have been faced with some deep loneliness--wanting to be paid attention to, and known. I've had a rough fall emotionally and this rock, especially now, means even more to me. I can relate to it, and it to me. I found it on the beach during a very special week for me professionally and emotionally, so it carries those meanings with it from the Cape.
Thank you for honoring Pele's rule and respecting this whole process. I can see why that is important and I'm lucky to have been a part of this process. I can't wait to see this little specimen. You've taken such loving care with it. She will be worn with gratitude. Given the challenges of drilling it, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to wear it without your generosity and commitment. It means so much more to be able to wear it and carry it with me in that way.
This has been a nice lesson for me in being patient and in trusting. I'm smiling and I'm touched. There are so many people in this world you can't trust and who don't come through, its been a gift to be reminded there are still trustworthy people out there--even "strangers".
Things Happen For A Reason wouldn’t have taken place between Laura and I, and we wouldn’t have exchanged a wonderful understanding, if it wasn’t for the search for meaning between us that the little rock brought us. Patience, and having our eyes and heart open and searching for meaning can bring us so many wonderful gifts. This is odd, but the expensive radio in my car broke about two days before I left for the Inauguration. Not enough time to fix it, so I loaded my iPod with new songs. A few hours into driving I tired the iPod (which I really didn't want to use while driving, but...) When I tired the iPod there were zero songs on it. It seems I didn't have a playlist selected when I synchronized. All this means I drove from Cape Cod to Washington (ten hours) and back (another ten hours) without a single sound. But, things happen for a reason...
I’ve been talking for a while about going to the Inauguration, and many of you know that over the winter I’ve been working on my latest book, which I said I would complete before the Inauguration, and that the book would end with me driving over the bridge as I leave the Cape for the Inauguration. Things Happen For A Reason, I didn’t finish the book - which was disappointing. I have developed Carpel Tunnel from too much writing, so I had to stop typing. But with Things Happening For A reason, I searched and found the meaning as to why I had to stop typing. The book wasn’t suppose to be about me completing the final chapter as I drove over the bridge – my driving over the bridge was the beginning of the book, not the end. The book is to begin with me driving over the bridge, and the book isn’t about life on Cape Cod during the beautiful winter. The book is about the journey I take as I devote my efforts to working help Obama bring the beautiful change his leadership has so inspired me to follow.
The radio breaking and the iPod not taking a download seemed to have brought me to place to think while driving all those many miles. The eve of the Inauguration, as I drove to Washington, the traffic became heavier and heavier. I stopped for gas on the New Jersey Turnpike and the attendant was smiling up a storm./ he said all the traffic that night was [people heading to Washington for the Inauguration. I couldn’t believe how many cars there were. The gas station attendant was genuinely happy, which at the time I thought was just his character. I arrived in Washington at midnight, in four hours the subway train into the city would begin transporting us to the Inauguration. As I waited in the parking lot thousands and thousands of people began to show up over the next four hours. Half a dozen helicopters flew over head. I was seven miles outside of the city, at only over of many train stops. All over the area thousands and thousands of people were making a pilgrimage to our National Mall for the Inauguration.
The fact that two million people were converging in one place is significant enough, bu the fact that each of the two million people were so incredibly happy was beyond description. Sometime sit seems, especially these days, that a majority of us are walking around depressed, for good reason given all we face right now, but not that the early morning of the Inauguration. Everyone was happy, and peaceful, and filled with a harmony that brought the best of spirits out. It took five hours to board the train and travel four subway stops. The thousands of us sang God Bless America, and Happy Birthday, anything to pass the time in the 19 degree cold. The train was packed, but we didn’t care about the discomfort, there was too much goodwill.
I stood in front of the Washington Monument, as far as I could see, in every direction, was a sea of people. And people were from all over the world, and there were people there who came form places where they own nothing, have no money, but some sold whatever they had to sell to buy a plane ticket and be there. This was their moment to show the world they support Obama and that change is coming. Two million beautiful people.
I’m not sure the television captured it, but when Yo Yo Ma and his quartet played Simple Gifts the beautiful cello delivered a moment where the crowd was overwhelmed with finding a special moment where in the tranquility of the peaceful tune the release of past ugliness seemingly vanished. The song seemed to close the door behind us as we entered a new place of hope and change. The crowd was completely silent as each of absorbed the arrival of what we came to the Inauguration for – the chance to feel the birth of our brotherly love. I am fifty two years old and thought I’d seen everything, compared to the birth fo my two children, that moment of being in that crowd and feeling that depth of love amongst us was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. I only wish I could find the words to articulate it for you, but it’s indescribable. That moment and the beautiful faces of two million people smiling all at the same time has changed me as a member of mankind. My heart has been transformed, and I love my country and the members of the world that were there during the Inauguration that brought me that moment.
And on the National Mall, amongst the World War II memorial, and the Vietnam Wall memorial, and the Washing Monument and Lincoln memorial, on the sacred ground where Martin Luther King Jr spoke, we stood. There was a feeling each of the two million paid a private homage to be standing on such ground – who was here before us, being part of such history. We knew this was special and we loved each other for sharing the moment together. Incredible.
It took me five hours to go into Washington and forty five minutes to leave. I made my way back to my car for the drive home. The radio breaking and the iPod not taking a download seemed to have brought me to place to think while driving all those many miles, and driving home to me beloved Cape Cod where my forefather’s dream of America being the place Obama wants to deliver. Things happen for a reason, I believe they do, and having that level of silence and opportunity to appreciate what just happened to me as I stood with two million people delivered me the chance to witness the reason for things happening as they did.
I have since my two adult child were born forever told them I would deeply appreciate all gifts (birthdays, Christmas, etc) be handmade. And most of the time they have always given me handmade gifts. Last month my daughter bound an incredibly beautiful book for my Christmas gift (she's an artist and a poet, a young hippie). It's a blank page journal type book, very very beautiful. I've been reluctant to start writing in it, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. And here is another reason why I believe things happen for a reason; If the radio and iPod had worked I wouldn't have had the time to think and have it dawn onto me that I will use her beautiful gift to capture the poems I will write about Obama's presidency and the breathtaking changes as he brings our country to a better place. I will use my new book to hand write my poetry dedicated to Obama's goodwill as I experience it. I'll start with the Inauguration.
Now here’s the best part of the Inauguration, I went with my beautiful son, Benjamin. A beautiful person, filled with the type of heart that is open and receptive to what we shared together. As a father to be in that place with my son is a gift that bonds us, a gift benjamin will carry with him forever. The smile that we felt with two million others we be etched in benjamin’s heart forever, and as a father I am incredibly grateful to see my child hold so much happiness and a reminder of how people mankind is capable of being.
I love my country, and I love those members of the world that appreciate peace, kindness, and the desire to work together in making our world a better place.
PLUGS
Anna Galland, national field director for MoveOn.org. will talk on "Organizing for Change: Challenge and Opportunities" at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, at the Yarmouth Friends Meetinghouse, 58 North Main Street, South Yarmouth. The event is co-sponsored by the American Friends service committee of Southeastern New England, a Quaker-based organization for peace and social justice. Donations will be gratefully accepted. Further information:Lee M. Hamilton 508-398-2333, or email lhamilton@capecod.net

Folk Music: On Tuesday, Jan 27, we'll meet right across the street at the South
Yarmouth Public Library, same time, 7-8:30PM.
"13th Annual Musical Instrument Demonstration" on Saturday, January 31 at 10:30am. Dinah Mellin says, "If you are around on the weekend of January 31st please come with a young friend and enjoy the visual as well as aural wonders all clustered together for you to experience!
and FREE".
Event: 13th Annual Musical Instrument Demonstration
"inspire your children and grandchildren to become musicians"
What: Performance
Host: Allegretto Outreach and The Friends of Snow Library
Start Time: Saturday, January 31 at 10:30am
End Time: Saturday, January 31 at 12:00pm
Where: Snow Library

The Living Arts Institute's (LAI's) new facility, 3811 Main Street, Route 6A, Brewster, MA
(across from Clayworks), This is the first bulletin of many to come so stay tuned. Our Open House was a great success. Thank you for attending. We will be having another community gathering on Saturday 4:00 - 8:30PM January 31 - this one a bit different!