I saw this thing in the woods today,
It wasn’t quite purple or pink or gray,
I wasn’t sure if I should greet it,
Surely my greeting wouldn’t please it…

I had been trotting through the autumn sun,
Rather oblivious to everyone,
When suddenly I spied
A young boy running by…

“Where are you running to, so fast,”
I asked the lad as he ran past…
“I have a date with the elefan-tun-tous,”
He said with no trace of boo hoos…

I tailed the boy as he footed it;
It could be interesting, couldn’t it?!
As we came to a clearing, I started to fearing,
For there were the elefan-tun-touses leering!

I stayed on the path as the boy approached the beast,
I thought he would certainly make the creature’s next feast,
But I was quite wrong, for the animal bent down,
He bent down all the way to the ground…

He hunkered down to the level of him,
And the boy climbed on up on the creatures great skin,
And the creature reared up with just a little jump,
Careful to keep the boy on his lump.

I was surprised, and I’m sure that I drooled,
For the elefan-ton-tous looked at me like a fool.
The boy layed himself down on the striped wrinkled skin,
In the sun, with straw in his mouth, and a grin.

I stood there and wished that I’d had the guts to try,
To approach the great beast, and ride up near the sky.
But alas, I am here, down on these two feet.
I guess I’ll finish my walk on the street.

But then the beast lumbered along,
Towards the path on which I was walking upon,
He trumpeted, and jumped up and down,
He danced a jig and did the splits on the ground.

I was so tickled, I laughed out loud.
Funny that such a creature could be such a clown!
I hopped up on the big fellows back, up near the sky,
And we’re still there, Mr. Elefan-ton-tous, the boy and I.

Now I didn’t tell you this tale to learn any lessons,
But if you wanted one, I suppose you could get one:
Don’t fear beastly creatures just because they’re not clean,
Instead ask them questions, and feed them green beans…

If they want to eat you, stay far from their mouths,
If they want to cook you, you better leave town…
But if they are nice, they will be your best friends,
And maybe they’ll let you ride near the sky once again!

(Kent Gustavson, October 30, 2005)

I remember in 7th or 8th grade, my art teacher, whose name I can’t remember anymore, had us draw and color ‘mandalas’… I realized just yesterday that I probably draw and see the way I do today partially because of her! I see things in lines and curves and shapes because of the assignments she gave us to draw inside of a circle…

And in thinking about mandalas, as I drew for my own amusement, I remembered my mother (Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson)’s poem (which was printed in Sojourners a couple of years ago) about the Cross-Timbers in Oklahoma… I’ll print it here:

Hundreds of years growing on a steep hill, desolate, aging
despite scarce nourishment, they wait for history to recognize them.

Crooked cedars, centuries old, twist in the shifting light of seasons,
and cling to a long forgotten hill shared by three-hundred-

year-old post oaks, every head cut off by lightning, every stump holding out
side limbs like wires on ragged and weathered clothes-line poles.

Recorded history reveals itself in the cross timbers’ rings, some narrow
as a spider’s thread, examined not by eye, but magnified to count

each period of drought, season of rain, each scarring fire, tornado, flood,
times of settlement and grazing. Washington Irving slept here

among the timbers, now a century older, and proclaimed them
beautiful. They have waited these years to hear it once again.

I wait. Transition is permanent. I understand these trees which grow
around rock and moss, trees which stretch limbs in crooked lines

seeking elusive light, trying to catch the run-away water, clinging to life
long enough to leave a legacy on the land before becoming

firewood. Their endurance, spirituality of patience, their
mandala of encyclopedic rings. What they have is what I want.

I made the connection between my life and my mother’s in that second, as I was up late drawing in my sketchbook! She is right — the patience of the cross-timbers is what I want, what we all want — the peace of stability, and the knowledge that your roots are safe. That we can grow, but we are firmly rooted in place.

I have moved around all my life, and I can’t claim one location as my home. I have many feelings, and of course, my family, that bring me to the place of feeling at home, but I am a wanderer. And that mandala is what I want.

By the way, this drawing is not a mandala — I drew outside the circle — that is also my personality — I do things that I know I shouldn’t have done. Just imagine that I didn’t draw outside the circle’s boundary:)

In the old gospel song, there were 12 gates to the heavenly city. Here are 12 ideas that are gateways to a new city. Walk through one or more, and help build a vibrant, human community where you would want to live and bring up your children.
Francesca Lyman, 12 Gates to the City, Sierraclub.org

Francesca Lyman is the author of two books, The Greenhouse Trap, and Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest : Exploring the Heart of Central Africa, both extraordinary narratives of environmental issues in today’s world. The Greenhouse Trap speaks to the conversation my family always ends up having around the dinner table.

My sister and her husband, both wonderful scientists and great people, as well as my father, a doctor with passionate Thoreauvian ideals, speak for the earth: they see the destruction, they see the global warming, they see the spills and the burns, the pain and the tears…

My good buddy Jeshua posted the lyrics for a new song of his online, along with (a really low quality:) mp3 here: …and no one heard a word » Seems we’re already forgetting about New Orleans

Click on the following link to listen to his low quality mp3 of this powerful new tune:

Jeshua Erickson :: New Orleans

It is a powerful description of the melee there, but also the reality :: we have been ignoring the poor and downtrodden in our own country.

Check out this new song, and all of Jeshua’s music at his website, jeshuaerickson.com, and his blog at jeshuaerickson.com/blog

Friends,

Anyone who would like to link to my site, I would love to trade links with you, or I can make you a special deal:) I am trying to get my music out to wide audience… So if you contact me, either by leaving a comment here, or by filling out the Contact Form on the left sidebar, I will send you a free sampler CD of all of my music! (You can sample much of it also on the left sidebar — if you click on the Kent Radios!

I will also give out these drawings that I post on my blog… It might not be the king’s treasure, but they make me happy:) I grew up drawing, and I’ve neglected it, along with my blog, in favor of music for a long time… So I’m enjoying amusing myself with these drawings…

If you have any requests for a drawing subject, or ideas, feel free to leave me a comment, I’ll be happy to come up with something!

Many blessings, and I hope to hear from you — also, if you would like a sampler, you don’t have to do anything for me — I appreciate the inquiries by themselves, and will be more than happy to send you out some tunes!