The Living Legacy
Sunday, grey, road slick with a sheen of plowed snow, — that’s winter in the mid-west. I do not mind the snow. It is a blanket for nature. Snow slows the pace of town-life, obstructing the efficiency, a machine-logic that accelerates, a reminder that winter’s cold is a sign. Now is the season for restoration of life energies, hiding oneself away, a season for repair and re-calibration. Change is constant. Now is time enough to take the measure of one’s location in relation to the arc of life. Where am I on my journey, in this place, this time, and what are my reserves?
I have heard this song many times on the radio. My attention is focused every time I hear it. A song of orientation, Dan Fogelberg takes the measure of his situatedness, recognizing his legacy from his dad. To the son, one’s dad is “the leader of the band.” The tune, a tribute of love, prompts me to remember the good things that I received from my dad. He is gone now and he did not have an easy life. Dad grew up without a father, raised by a single mother, together with two sisters. He worked his entire career as a machine operator for the American Tobacco Company.
He remains my pattern for kindness, for passion and allegiance to worthy causes. Beauty and wildness are often found together. I wonder if he somehow planted the seed of that idea, how or where that notion took root for me?
The Youtube pairs AI images with Dan Fogelberg’s tune, Leader of the Band.
