There is a big philosophical & spiritual movement which is quite popular these days. It focuses on being present, in this moment. Being in the now.
I was reading some more on this today, and it is quite interesting, and useful.
But.
For me there is always a but. Not my booty-butt. Or a cigarette butt. The kind of but that means …. whereas, conversely, then again, and…on the other hand.
But. There are the butt ends of “the NOW.” The future. The past.
I find myself thinking about the future quite a bit. Either in glad anticipation, or some kind of worry or dread. It depends on which future I am considering. And of course the other end of the spectrum… the past. Sometimes I love to visit this with glad memories or wonderment. Other times, it is called on with “I wish-es.” I wish I would have done this, or I wish I had said that. OR… I think I upset Matilda & Marley … I wish I knew for sure.
Ahhh. I do. It is true.
But I also love to look back. At old photographs. I used to collect them pretty handily. Of anyone really. It just had to be a cool image. And I like to know the stories.
So to share a few tonight… for something different.
The first one is a picture the Hayden survey, in the Old West. The men are in camp at Red Buttes Wyoming, in 1870. This was six years before the Little Big Horn.
Now, I will tell you the story of the guy on the far left. His name is Elroy McPherson. Everyone called him Cookie. He was the cook. Earlier that day, the party had shot and killed a large buck. They were eating good that afternoon. Elroy could cook up deer meat like none other. So he did.
He learned this skill from his mother. Her name was Snow Owl. She was full blooded Sioux, AND of all things… she had a peg leg. Seriously. But. She could really cook the Plain’s animals. And she taught her boy, Elroy. She also taught him to respect all of nature, and the animal kingdom especially. So he did. The two dogs in the photo were his. Bruno and Monday.
Elroy’s father was Captain Theodore McPherson. He died 15 years earlier, in Missouri, when he tripped on branch, hit his head on a rock, and drowned in Pattawa Creek. Elroy was only 10 years old. Snow Owl told him to go and to bury his father. So he did.
Three days after this photo was taken, Elroy got in an argument with the guy sitting third from the right. Robert Strayhorn. Strayhorn called the Sioux a bunch of dirty Indians. Elroy choked him with his bare hands. Later that day, Elroy mysteriously fell off a cliff. End of Strayhorn. End of the cook. Elroy used to say.. “One day we all gotta’ die.” So he did.
It was the Old West, after all.
The next story is about these two dancers from the late 1800s. Both were born in Russia. Oh, but I’ve gone on too long already.
So. Back to the first story…. a few things to remember
1. If Bob had bobbed, he wouldn’t have drowned.
2. Never make fun of a girl named Peggy Sioux.
3. And the sad end? That’s how the Cookie tumbles.
And last but not least. Don’t believe everything you read. The Pig told me so.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. –Buddha
Life gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want to do if you stay in the present moment. –Deepak Chopra
Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment… Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life – and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you. –Eckhart Tolle