Beneath the Leaves

Beneath the Leaves

 

By John W. Vander Velden              

 

The intense heat of the summer’s afternoon left behind, as I walk beneath the leaves.  Now surrounded by thick straight barked pillars, tall they stand, supporting the ceiling far above.  A cathedral slowly and carefully built by GOD.  A place quiet yet filled with life, as in awe I move.  I am but a stranger to this place but connected.  While I find myself among the great old stand, hardwoods of popular, maple and oak, grand trees whose time has spanned so much history.  I imagine others…those that have over generations found themselves in this wood.  Of children playing…men hunting…and those living their lives very near to this place.  To some reverence found on this rolling land…to others only trees…rocks…and dirt.  Finding myself alone, surrounded by the “real world” too seldom.  Free for a time, I cast aside hectic thoughts…the craziness of life can continue without me for a while.  My eyes move upward.  Far above, the canopy, a roof allowing only small shafts of sunlight…bright slivers angling toward forest floor.  My breathing slows as moving with care…listening…watching…hearing…I absorb this world alien to my everyday.  Grateful for just a bit of time I can spend beneath the leaves.

 

(211 Words)

The Naming of a Star

The Naming of a Star                                                                            

 

Excerpt taken from “A Mountain to Climb”

 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

As Mathew Borton looked toward his son, Daniel, he could see questions in the boy’s eyes, and knew they were questions he was not yet ready to answer.  Mathew feared the questions…feared the memories they would conjure…the pain they would bring.  But Daniel did not ask.  Perhaps the boy knew there were places his father would not go.  Even that did not relieve Mathew as the memories flooded his mind and once again broke his heart.  So he lay in the dark looking toward the bright diamonds above…and Mathew wondered.  Wondered what kind of father he really was.  Joseph Borton was a good father…only a good father would walk across the fields late at night to check on his son camping with his friend.  Staring into the heavens Mathew tried his best to pick out a star brighter than any other.  The task suddenly possessed him.  He had to pick out the brightest…the best…and finding it Mathew would choose for it a name…and that name would be Joseph Daniel Borton.  Mathew would remember where that bright pure light could be found in the night sky.  Then any night the stars filled the night sky, he could see that star…the star named after his father.

(209 Words)

 

Changed

 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

In each of our lives there comes a time when we find ourselves tested.  And among those tests comes our first moment of courage.  When I was a boy…perhaps fifteen…bringing home the cows one of my duties.  Times the cattle would be in a small exercise lot adjacent to the barnyard.  The daily task required little thought…just something that needed doing.  On one particular summer’s day when the bull, a rather large black beast, roamed with the cows, I found myself suddenly in a situation.  I carried what would be best described a showman’s switch, which I used to motivate.  I remember it as a broken down affair, with a grip not unlike that found on a golf club. I must not have paid enough attention for Benjamin slowly dawdled sufficiently to become last.  Never had the animal given the least concern.  Don’t get me wrong, I knew enough about the danger, but Ben had been docile…till that day.

 

When he turned, suddenly, I had no time or chance to flee.  Finding myself very nearly in the middle of the field with a large angry beast three or four feet away.  No time for thought…yet sufficient for fear.  Screaming at the top of lungs, as with all my strength I swung that switch, time and again across that brute’s face with no effect.  Yet I continued yelling and slapping Benjamin’s head while he stood pawing earth and bellowing his hatred.

 

Certainly at the moment I did not understand how dramatic an effect that event would have upon my life.  Often over the years I would remember that summer afternoon.  I would never forget the danger I faced…or the fear.  How easily we think those considered brave untouchable by fear.  When we look at ourselves remembering all the times danger surrounded…and know that we trembled… How can we dare compare ourselves to the bold?  Yet each day we face demon’s terror which would attack us and those we love…and we stand.  For like the boy that suddenly faced a bull’s rage…these things attack when there is no possible escape.  So we face the monster that at times is life…looking danger in the eye…fearful…certainly…but standing firm using all the strength and wit GOD has given.  Perhaps determination enough…to hold fear…and like a boy facing death on the hoof, able to persevere.

 

For if I had turned, perhaps I could have made three steps but certainly not five.  Most likely before I had changed directions that great dark head would send me crumpled to the earth…and that would have only been the beginning.  But the boy shouting and flailing proved too annoying, and at last Ben turned and dashed to the barnyard as I chased.  Trembling as I closed the gate…full aware of the situation’s truth.  Never have I considered myself a brave man.  Yet that day I became changed…understanding fear at times near, but need not be the victor.

 

(504 Words)

 

Dreams and New Beginnings

Dreams and New Beginnings

 

What a weekend.  There are those times when thing just seem to trumble along…and times when you just can’t catch your breath.



My job was to make certain the balloon filled completely by
pulling the rope as it inflated.

It began Friday evening.  Jackie had been promised a ride in a hot air balloon…and that debt came to be paid, for the heat overcame her at the last attempt, and Nick went in her stead.  But Friday just before 7:30 PM one of her life long dreams came true, as we lifted off a park in Plymouth.  The air so calm we did not go very far during the more than hour and a half flight yet reaching an altitude of more than 1500 feet in search of a breeze.  Of course the most important part of Hot Air Ballooning is finding a place to land.  After several failed attempts, at microscopic patches of yard, we put down in a wild portion of Price Nurseries.  Those that have not had the joy, of the experience, have no idea how much work is required…the setting up and the putting away.  It was full dark by the time we had things safely loaded.



A view of US 30 from  1500'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those, that know us best, knew that Nick was Purdue bound…and that departure began at 5:30 AM Sunday morning.  It was not bad enough that the alarm had been set for 4:30, but something set off our dog, Cloey, who began barking at 2:00, and for all points and purposes did not stop until the alarm relieved us of the last hope of sleep, at least for that morning.  We trucked Nick’s “stuff”…just how much “stuff” does a body need…down to campus.  The volunteers…excited students…had us unloaded and carted to his dorm room quick as a flash.  While I went to park the truck…a really big pickup…in the parking garage…I felt certain the truck too large…they assured me it wasn’t…but just barely…Nick and his roommate Greg began putting their new world together.  When you considered what these boys, that just had met, intended to fit into a space smaller than some people’s closets, you would just shake your head.  But two hours later it became a completely manageable living space with a 47” Plasma, refrigerator, microwave, two lofts…that is beds raised up about five feet…a Kerig machine…a fancy coffee maker…, 2 shelving storage units, and believe it or not, a futon.   

Of course the world could not exist without the internet, so that was the next war to be battled as the two of them worked to connect their computers, cell phones and most important the gaming console to Purdue’s Ethernet, and set up a wireless router to connect it all.  Greg and Nick had been texting each other since room assignments came through last month.  It worked out famously…I’ll bring the fridge…you bring the microwave…they had virtually no overlap.

Meeting Greg and his family was a great experience…I feel that Nick and Greg will be a good fit.  Just before noon we said our goodbyes…difficult…and spent nearly three hours getting lunch and walking around the campus.

 

Nick assembling one of the shelf units 

 

 

Nick is on his own now.  It really isn’t the first time, but this is different.  When he left for a week or two we knew he would soon return.  Nick has always been such a big part of our lives…and he will remain an important but now a very different part.  It will take us time to adjust to this “new normal”. 

It was good that we used only one vehicle to cart all the things Nick felt vital…like his golf clubs, because Jackie and I could share our thoughts…Those thoughts that had come into clear enough focus that they could be shared.  As we drove home…the long way…passing between the hundreds of Windmills of Fowler’s Ridge…we began a new journey…perhaps a difficult journey…not just back to Walkerton…but to the next stage of our lives.  We ask for your patience…your understanding…and your prayers, as we move onward, knowing that our son will reach great heights in the coming years.

John

                                                                                                         Greg setting up his internet

 

 

 

 

                                                                   Nick at work at his desk.

 

 

Jackie visiting with an old friend...John Purdue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clock Tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackie standing at the University gateway with the Neil Armstrong Aeronautical Engineering Building in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brave New Wings

                         

By John W. Vander Velden

 

I remember watching young swallows as they grew.  During the summers of my youth as I cleaned the milk barn, I would look up to the two or three nests that had been built upon the planking.  How quickly the young birds grew and soon filled the small space, their home.  Then suddenly they would leave the only place they had known, on untried but brave new wings. 

Events in our household reminded me of those summers long ago…it reminded me of the young swallow’s first flights.  For our son faces a new and grand adventure…one for which we as parents hope he is prepared.  He stands on the very brink with feigned confidence, not daring to show anything less. It seems ignorance and optimism, powerful allies for those that leave all they have known behind.   For the unknown that lies ahead has long been anticipated.  And just as the swallow that has never flown does not doubt in its ability, our son is prepared to leap.  For the nest has become too small and the great wide world awaits.  What lies ahead none knows…that remains the challenge that each face, young and old.  We each should remember when we confronted challenges and the possibilities seemed endless.  We each should remember the time when we felt fearless and knew failure impossible.  These are the things I need to consider as I watch Nick while he prepares to venture into a new world, on brave new wings.

(249 Words)

Confidence

 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

When I was a small child, I moved among the tall wheat…crop that grew taller than the wheat of today.  I don’t recall the circumstances, for our father did not allow us to wander about field crops.  For no matter how carefully you moved, you would certainly damage the plants.  All the same I and my older brother moved through the field of yet green wheat.  I remember looking upward to see the heads standing vertically in the morning sun against a sky of brilliant blue, using my hands to gently move aside the slender stalks as I moved blindly through the vast space.  I had no fear of losing my way as I moved on, driven onward by youth’s blind confidence.  Has life taught us the fear of failure?  Have we, by stumbling, chosen, at times, to cease moving?  Does the field before us seem so large we feel lost, unable to even imagine reaching the far side? It is normal to doubt ourselves and our abilities.  But if that doubt stops the attempt….if self doubt keeps us from reaching toward new goals…then we have allowed failure’s fear to dominate.  How can we exist if we do not move forward?  How can we move forward with out any chance of failure or rejection?  Have we forgotten that all achievements are built upon the rubble of failed attempts?  We ignore how much we have learned from the unsuccessful efforts.  But our progress needs more than courage…it requires confidence…the confidence that the goal is possible… That though there will surely be setbacks…and at times we will fall on our faces…that by getting up…and striding confidently forward step by step, we can reach new heights.  It is about attitude…it is about confidence!!!

(296 Words)