getting in shape

My friend Carolyn wrote in her blog about getting in shape for the good weather. I was thinking about my odd work life-easy as it as, some mornings when everything aches, I think about retiring. Or maybe it's my knees that are thinking about retiring. Maybe there is some internal civil war going on. My ears want to keep working, but the knees yell "quit". My liver is neutral. Anyway, I'm swimming at the Y after working out at the gym for an hour with a client-and getting paid for it. I turned to a co-worker in the pool and said I was up for a raise because I had learned the backstroke and my Australian Crawl has me in the running for a promotion. Periodic visits to the doctor urge me to work out and go swimming. So if I do retire I will be spending my days spending my own money to do what I am now getting paid for. I am not the smartest guy,but I think I can unwind this conundrum.
Other news-- Maine is being deluged. I saw a game warden giving mouth-to-mouth to a trout. I sincerely hope the reason was that the fish was drowning. More tomorrow-I'm boring myself.-love to all

anniversary

Yesterday marked the 28th year of marriage between Karen Mummsen and Ronald Tomanio. The ceremony took place at the Quaker Chapel at Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie N.Y. Our wonderful friend Frank Post, who was the cook at the school, cooked all the food which included a make-your-own -sundae. For those friends out their of other Faiths, a Baha'i marriage ceremony is not official unless there is a make-your-own sundae. KAren had disies in her long blond hair while I had color in mine. The daisies, the blondness and the color in my hair are long gone, but love has filled in every material void. We had a short couple of days at Lake Mohonk-significant to Baha'is because Abdu'l-Baha was invited to speak there in April of 1912. They still have a huge portrait of Him in the hallway. Whatever event would have my mother and father seated side-by-side at the main table. My mother's least favorite sister walked by and could not resist a passing broadside volley. "Look at the two lovebirds."-my parents, who struggled to be in the same room together, shot back invisible poison darts. Weddings are a gathering of individuals that occur like comets with an extremely long orbit-once in a few million years. Which means I will one day struggle to fit into my wedding suit and Karen will test the fortitude of her white wedding dress. Lovebirds will gather for real having been reprimaned by St. Gordo, the patron saint of obese divorced couples to forgive and forget-but I will never forget the bright wake of the comet as I look back in time.

Today's show

I am having a difficult time letting go of the emotions from today's radio show. A young mother of four who is recovering from a brain injury suffered when she was thrown from the backseat of car and hit her head on a guard rail. Everyone thought she had a perfect life-beautiful new house, hardworking husband and four beautiful children. She had a good job in a bank as well. Inside she felt lost and her marriage was falling apart. She accepted an invitation from a female friend to attend a concert and even though she had to get up early for work the next day and get her children off to school--drank too much--fell asleep in the back seat and woke up weeks later. Given up for dead twice, told she would not walk again or lead a normal life. I ask her why she went out in the middle of the week? Her husband encouraged her to go out because they could not stand to be in each others presence. She said "I was self centered. It was all about me and my spotless house and my beautiful things." You would think I was describing a monster and good riddance to her. But, four years later, she has become a beautiful soul committed to being the best mother she can be. Back to work and determined to help others to make better decisions. She is not out of the woods yet-racked with guilt that her friend died in the wreck. She says she is getting better but she still feels lost. She is more spiritual now and I am curious where she will be in a years time. A hard thing to go on live radio and tell such a story, but she believes if one person listening stops and thinks it will be worth it. This show and the next one are on the same theme, but with different guests. The shows are timed to coincide with prom season. 1400 teens are injured and 15 die every day from auto accidents-alcohol involved in 40% of the accidents. The numbers are greater during prom season.
To listen Google search audio archives--Portsmouth community Radio look for "Don't Dis My Ability"

unique talent

The Baha'i Writings inform me that each individual is endowed with a "special virtue and special excellence". I have always wondered what my unique talent was and I am thrilled to announce to everybody that I have discovered mine. Now I can relax and simply coast these last few years of mortal life. While swimming with a client at the Y I noticed that I can stand straight up in twelve feet of water and, without moving a muscle I float. There doesn't seem to be a time limit either. I just hover in the water in a timeless nether world. There are emaciated gurus sitting in caves in India trying to achieve such a state of Nirvana and here I am, owning not even one diaper, and I have reached this pinnacle of statutory aquatic bliss. The next step is to develop a brochure and offer classes charging an exorbitant fee. There would be photograph of me defying gravity and Neptune. In fact, I could be thumbing my nose at an angry Neptune. How many of us at one time have wanted to thumb our nose at an angry Neptune?

Tribute to a too tall poet who has taken the pledge

I woke up at a quarter to three not hearing Frank Sinatra singing "set em up Joe" (with apologies to those under a certain age) but with a thread of a line that pleaded to be pulled from another world and I knew the reason. Somebody ! owes me precious hours of sleep! And I will be checking the mail!

TEN THOUSAND MORSELS

Carried by the Rhythm from the Ancient
Melodies and letters rattle free
From a horse-drawn wagon
Descending from snowy mountain passes
Where icy water is borne
To starving hermits clinging to the Hem of the Robe
Bearing the heavy weight of memories
Of smiling Janets emerging out of a blue glass light
From a house on a hill

more celebration

First kudos to the much-too-tall Rhonda Palmer for her project of writing one poem(and good poems they are) for every day of the 19 Fast AND for taking the pledge "I promise not to wet myself in public". I am way too happy because the new digital scale from my beloved daughter Julia arrived and it turns out that I am actually on the thin side! I have just been using cheap, inaccurate scales. Seriously, I have lost 20lbs!!since my last doctor visit which explains why I did not get the usual disgusted looks along with a painful infliction of a Chinese wrist burn at my last appt. Looks like a major project at the house filling the sink hole and preventing another house flooding. Thanks to all who sent Farmville cows and chickens to fill the hole. Much progress being made in putting together a job fair specifically for individuals with disabilities.More later-off to work-

celebrate

A lot to celebrate. Karen and I will have been married 28 years in another week. Our daughter Julia received notice that she has been accepted into the graduate program at Tufts University in Boston, which is only an hour away from us! We have the most adorable granddaughter in the universe, and in all the universe she has chosen to live minutes from our home by the river. It would have been such a hassle if she lived on Jupiter-the weather there is awful and I don't travel well. I have the most wonderful son-in-law with the most amazing head. An aerial view reveals that a tiny vegetable garden grows on the top of his head. Seriously, he rushed over at dawn to calm my nerves during the recent Great Flood. Our daughter Laurel is everything a father would want in a daughter. A parent's wish is that their kids surpass them. I did my part by setting the bar real low, but tonight I am proud.