This past week has, as every week has, been MORE than incredibly busy !
With the fulfillment of my duties as an Art Director/Resident Artist, as well as the author and publisher of my daily DANDELION MESSAGES… AND the “attempt” to address the tasks of caring for gardens, Hobbes and Carolyn…etc., etc. etc., I have found a minimum of Time for ANYTHING.
HOWEVER…a few days ago, something crossed my path that, literally, stopped me “in my tracks.”
I am referring to the incredible number of positive responses I received for one of my recent DANDELION DAYS Facebook posts.
The post, to which I refer, consisted of my utilizing the Carousel Brass Ring I carry with me at all Times as a Symbol.
Innumerable individuals, across the ENTIRETY of our Planet requested more information from me on how and why I arrived at the “relationship” between me and my Brass ring.
I had no choice but to answer these individuals with my narrative on how I arrived at this point.
The “relationship” is truly unique, and has served me in MANY ways throughout the years…and has served as a form of Inspiration for many, many persons.
Perhaps I should explain……….
MY DANDELION MESSAGE, 7/21/2020
My post is as follows:
G’ MORNING!!!
When we least expect it, our Lives can be completely changed in less than a single heartbeat.
While riding a Carousel on our Nation’s East Coast in the early ‘70s, this author reached-out and captured an item which, to this day, has played a Major Role in the alteration of his Life.
The item? A Carousel Brass Ring.
An item which, to this day, NEVER leaves his side.
Like the Dandelion, the Brass Ring is a Symbol of Eternity...and a Symbol of our own Nature...like the Carousel, it always moves forward.
Run your fingers around the Ring’s circumference...
Blow the Dandelion seeds into the winds...
What do you discover?
My DANDELION MESSAGE for today is..........
The message then continued with the display of an image which contained three items:
• The image of a Carousel Brass Ring
• A Dandelion centered within the Ring
• The words of a statement created to explain the reason behind my carrying of the Ring
BACKGROUND
As anyone who knows me would agree: I believe there is no such thing as “Chance.”
In the summer of 1972, I was living out on the East Coast.
I absolutely despised the “Big City” on the weekends. SO…when Saturday morning came around, I would wend my way down the Jersey Shore to the Boardwalk of Seaside Heights.
Here, to this day, despite Time and destructive weather, still stands a magnificent Carousel created by the Artists around 1910.
On one of the outside posts of this Carousel, is attached a Brass Ring Machine. If a rider was fortunate, he/she could stretch out an arm, snatch a brass ring, and turn it in for a FREE RIDE.
In August of 1972, I rode that Carousel…caught a brass ring…but didn’t turn it in. That evening, emptying my pockets, I found the Ring…threw it into a drawer, and forgot about it.
In the mid-1970’s I moved back to Western Pa.
Here I placed all my boxes of “stuff” into storage.
Then, Life changed for me in August of 1991.
What some individuals would regard as a “fatal” automobile crash encompassed me completely, I found myself COMPLETELY incapable of ANYTHING for nearly two years.
Then, in the Summer of 1993, Carolyn decided to ease my “turmoil” by us taking a trip to Sandusky, Ohio…an area we loved tremendously.
Here it was our intent to place our vehicle onto one of the ferryboats to take us over to the isle of Put-In-Bay. BUT…we NEVER made it onto the boat.
In downtown Sandusky, we noticed a sign in the shape of a human hand on a lamppost, pointing to a dome-shaped building called the CAROUSEL MUSEUM. Knowing how we both loved amusement parks, we decided to go to the museum.
Once inside, we sat ourselves onto one of the park-like benches surrounding an inside Carousel…not a “little” Carousel, but one full-sized.
After having watched the animals travel round and round, and listening to the band organ whisper the sounds of delight, I turned to face Carolyn and uttered the first words within two years:
“THIS IS WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MY SECOND CHANCE.”
AND…suddenly, it was as if the clouds parted…rushing into my Souls and Mind was EVERYTHING one needed to know on how to create the beloved wooden Carousel Animals in the manner of 1865-1917.
Less than six months later, I was touring and demonstrating the Art of traditional Carousel Carving.
In 1998, my wife and I built our home on our property in Espyville which we purchased in 1982.
As the house was being finished, we gathered all our stored boxes and items, and held “Christmas in September.”
As I opened a beaten and somewhat moldy cardboard box, rummaged through the contents, a forgotten object met my grasp: the Brass Ring I had forgotten all those years ago. It never abandoned me…though I had nearly abandoned the Spirit and Lesson it contains. Since that moment, on that day, the Carousel Brass Ring has NEVER left my side.
BUT…MOST importantly, to the thousands of folks who stopped to watch my demonstrations and chose to speak with me, I produced the Brass Ring that caught me back in 1972.
Moreover, the innumerable folks I have been honored to meet over the succeeding years in various capacities have ALSO held and examined the Ring.
I asked each person to run their fingers around the ring…tell me what they did NOT find. The answer: NO BEGINNING, NO END.
THE DANDELION
Again, those who have received my daily messages, or have heard my weekly radio discussions also know that I am an advocate of the Dandelion. To me, this incredible flower/plant speaks the Essence of Eternity. No matter how one views the Dandelion…as a Flower, as a weed…ALL are in total agreement: no matter what occurs, it NEVER dies!
THE MESSAGE
The message I included with the image of the Brass Ring I posted a few days ago contains the following words:
When they said to me
“What is this thing?”
I smiled at them and said…
Why, this ? It’s my Brass Ring.
“Why do you carry it…?
What Message does it send?”
Why this? It is Life.
Notice there is no Beginning
nor End.
SO...always in your travels,
No matter what Life brings...Just remember the story
Of the Endless Brass Ring.
MAY EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR EVERY DAY BE FILLED WITH LOVE, PEACE, AND HOPE!
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