View From The Front Porch- July 6, 2012

Sitting here this morning while it is still cool on the river just enjoying the morning coffee and the beauty of the Upper Mississippi River country. Just occurs to me, as I watch the current headin' on down South to finally blend with the salt water of the Gulf, life is kinda like the river. Some folks seem to just drift with the current, like flotsam and driftwood, making no effort to direct their path one way or the other, sometimes just content to end up in a backwater brush tangle, while the water moves on without them. Others seem to have the will to press against the current, to seek calmer water and a better destination, and even if they never reach exactly where they want to go, at least they experience the satisfaction of knowing that they gave it their best shot. Then there are those very few who seem to move like a vessel of purpose, a paddle wheeler able to steer around the rocks and shoals, the log jams and rapids, to reach some ultimate destination in life that seems to be charted by fate. I am no floater, and I sure am not a vessel of purpose, but, I am one that has always swam against the current, forever in search of that perfect piece of water, and always wondering where the river starts and where it is going as I swim to the melody that only I can hear. The first explorers to reach this beautiful river, paddling down the Wisconsin river from Green Bay and the Great Lakes, were men of purpose who were always looking to the horizon, never content with status quo, but, always seeking beyond with their birch bark canoes and hand carved paddles, their long rifles close at hand in a land of unknown dangers. I reckon that is the kind of ancestors whose blood flows through my veins, the seekers, the roamers of uncharted paths and waters. One thing I do know for sure, when you travel, searching for what is just beyond...you need to pay close attention to what lies behind you, for it's only then that you will recognize the landmarks and know how to find your way back.

Honoring your personal history is not living in the past, it is firmly placing the stone that marks who you are and where you come from. I wonder, are we drifters, seekers or vessels of purpose...as I watch the current move on down the river, going where it will go.       -Stan