Boxing Day Skate; Going The Best Way I Can See How

When our cousin Torgny was quite small he lead our Aunts, Uncles, Parents, Grandparents, and other Palm Family Cousins through some pretty patchy snow/grass combination, on a cross-country ski adventure. Upon receiving some criticism on the chosen route, little 7 year old Torgny spun his torso around and hollered back,

"I am going the best way I can see how, so don't complain!" 

We all ended up getting to the destination, and having a wonderful picnic in the end, and no one complained, or even remembered the difficulty of the journey, the phrase however, it has stuck around.

I had the opportunity this past Christmas, to spend time with Torgny, and we were once again faced with a patchy route, instead of snow, this time we were looking for ice, where mainly grass resided. I reminded my cousin of the phrase he had used so many years ago, and this time he responded with,

"Well this seems pretty bad, no matter which way I see it." 

Yet again the group persevered, making it across the grassy lake inlet, to where an icy platform awaited our sharpened blades, and  expectant hearts.

It's probably experience, and an awareness foreign to children, that caused the change in Torgny's phrasing. The first one... "Going the best way I can see how..." has been used to describe many situations over the years, from picking up the wrong groceries at the store, to trying to choose flowers for a funeral. I like having a different response though. What I like most about it is that both situations ended the same; Good company, good food, good memories to hold close. The path to getting there, doesn't really ever matter.

Music Monday: Such Great Heights

"Everything looks perfect from far away, "Come down now." but we'll stay."

These lyrics have been resonating with me. It's extraordinary that the same words said from two separate perceptions can be so very very different.

This song speaks about a 'great perhaps' about being willing to venture into unknowns. It explores fate, and destiny, and taking chances, including what others my say about the choices made, and the responses to them. It's whimsical as well as deep, flighty as well as grounding, and done so perfectly in very different ways by these soulful artists.

Postal Service version leaps towards the excitement of new places and adventures. Searching with reckless abandon for distant horizons:

Iron and Wine gives us a song full of longing, wishing for the chance of something more, drenched with the sadness of missed opportunity:

While meandering, there are some days I have associated more strongly with one of these two, very different, renditions. I think it's been an exploration on being exactly where you are supposed to be regardless of how you are feeling about it. There is as much to explore within the parameters of somber isolation as with exuberant camaraderie. Recognizing the basis of these experiences as the same, while allowing room for varying perspectives, has been an exercise in patient self-acceptance for me of late. Whatever else is left to come is just bonus, I've already been to such great heights:

*see me waving

- k

Music Monday: Night Owl

Category: Songs That Describe Me

The Good Lovelies - In The Morning