Pale Light

Pale Light

By John W. Vander Velden                             

The cold night air stings nose and lungs as I walk over the rolling snow covered field.  Only the brightest stars, those that dare confront the brilliance of the full moon, dot the dark overhead.  The land lays painted beneath the pale light, the moon illuminating the snowy landscape, reflecting various shades of gray, in the pristine night.  The way I chose leads across the rolling land made more so by ocean like waves, drifts piled and driven firm by winds past, my steps at times labored.  Now air calm, my breath’s steam hanging before me, freezing ice drops in my moustache, carries no sound other than my own.  With eyes sweeping the frozen world, enjoying a different beauty of light and shadow of open spaces shared by none.  Here alone beneath the stars and moon…here alone as I trudge through knee deep drifts…here alone in a world illuminated by pale light…I find myself once more.  As I pause, as I study the night world lit by pale light, as I look in each compass point, seeing no other, a place most solitary I have found.  Yet even here, I know…I am not truly alone…not here in the mid of open land…not here, far from home and hearth, far from those wiser within warm walls.  No, the stars and moon remind me with their pale light…I am never alone!!!

(234 Words)

Pioneers

Pioneers 

 By  John W. Vander Velden 

It seems to me that my parents were very much like pioneers.  They crossed the sea…though never had they been more than a short distance from the place of their birth.  They came to a strange place…a land where they knew few people…a land where people were very different…spoke strangely.  They went boldly filled with dreams and ambitions.  They made a new life.  They did not turn back.

Each of us is a pioneer.  And we, each of us, are bound for a new country.  A place we have never been.  A place we may not be prepared to face.   Yet we are going, perhaps vigorously onward or pushed forward.  The mists hide what lies ahead.  There are those things we can expect, but there are also so many things before us in the unknown.  And so as pioneers we tread onward…onward to a new country…a country filled with challenges, rewards, and disappointments as well. 

What lies ahead of you?  What lies ahead of me?  Only by going onward will that be revealed.  For we tread on a road not taken before…leading at last to an end we know, but the travel…the between the where we are and where we are certain we will reach…that is the unknown land.  Pray for patience, we all shall need it; for a sense of humor, it can only help; for love, it is the only mortar that holds lives together; for boldness, it keeps us upright on our journey.  But most of all pray for courage…for the way is not easy.

So go boldly fellow pioneers…go with dreams and ambitions…face your fears…they, in the end, will not overcome you.  For we each travel to a place we have not been…a place we are unable to see clearly…a place that awaits us.  Pioneers, we travel to tomorrow and the days that follow…to our own personal future…whatever that may be.  Do not be hustled along by that herdsman called time.  Stand tall…face each day…know you do not walk alone…laugh…make music…joyful music…cry when you must…smile when you can…laugh loudly and often… and love…love those that love you…and love those that do not.  And each day when you reach that new place stand firm to what is true, yet learn all it has to teach.  Each day is about growth…growth in ways obvious… and in so many ways that are not.

So pioneers do not fear this new land…have courage…walk boldly into the future!

On the Beach

On the Beach                          

By John W. Vander Velden

The wind blew firmly, cool on his cheeks.   Jacob, deep in thought, walking, the sea on his right, waves breakers crashing on wide white sand beneath the mid-morning sun.  A scent familiar, with the taste of salt, carried by the wind.  Damp sand firm beneath casual steps.  No need for haste, for none shared this beach.  No others sought comfort beneath winter sun or the crescendo of tumbling water and seabirds call.  The plovers racing incoming surf went unnoticed, as the line of pelicans their race above the waves.  Jacob did not see the gulls watching as he passed.  On days when much filled his mind Jacob would escape, seeking solitude.  This day began before sun escaped its watery prison.  The car parked unknown miles behind as hours had past, the only constant wind, sand, waves, and a man walking…alone.  The news given in early morning hours…painful…last hope abandoned.  The words flowed past him…Jacob unwilling to hear.  Yet their seed had found fertile soil…soil deep within.  The seed of those words grew and with that growth shattered what remained of his heart.  Soon he must face her, knowing what he could not accept.  A brave face needed, certainly beyond his ability.  Falling to his knees, beneath the sun, the thunder of surf filling his ears, as sea wind blew his tears away.  Waves washing, splashing thighs, cold yet unfelt as with heart broken Jacob prayed.  There through gasping breaths he pleaded…begging…bargained…willing to give himself…if only…  Through his sobs, unheard among the ocean’s thunder, heart’s questions raised, waiting impatient for any other answer…anything other than doctor’s prognosis.  Fear and pain mixed, the truth’s seed now full grown.  Weak, at last to his feet rising, no answer acceptable found…and yet a feeble beginnings of understanding.  Trembling unsteadily Jacob stood turning, eyes scanning steps behind.  Step prints in wet sand…in places clear…in others waves erased…his tracks lost.  Yet Jacob knew from where he had come…understood destination awaiting…the tracks themselves irrelevant.  As the man drew breaths deep, in the place most solitude, strangely felt not alone.  There on the beach…there where wind blew and waves rushed to shore…there beneath pale sky Jacob understood that pain was shared.  Another closer than his next breath, understood.  The sharing did not take the pain from him.  Yet Jacob knew, from this companion, strength sufficient would come for the darkest days ahead.  A strength…found…on the beach.    

(410 Words)