It is the 4th of July 2014. I rose before 6:30 am as usual, and after the commotion and canine frenzy of letting the dogs out, I made tea and went out onto the front porch. The vast silence was broken by Sandhill cranes calling their pitched croaking,songbirds off in the distance, and some cattle crowing. The reverberation off the sides of the huge Camas Prairie where we live highlights this vastness. Western Flycatchers are actively feeding their young in a nest on top of a juniper log that supports the upper deck. It is a beautiful morning with the dappled light of sunrise through ponderosas and aspens. It is cool and lush. I look down the drive to the east towards the Forest Service road and see a sleek doe in her prime, quietly cross heading up our back meadow of grass and wildflowers, shade and trees. I am reminded by this sighting, of my mother, who gave me life 60 years ago today (9:36 am), in Eugenes Sacred Heart Hospital. I was Rowenas first child, and she was in labor for 24 hours to bring me into this world (ouch). She passed at home on the Summer solstice in 2003. As my father lay dying at home in 2008, I arrived in the early morning to the house I grew up in off of Barnes Rd. in SW PDX. My brother and I alternated days with him at the end. In the last week of his life, as I pulled up to his house I saw for the first time in my life a sleek doe in our front yard, and immediately felt the presence of my mother. The doe was not spooked by me and stayed in that patch of front yard for over an hour. I was so grateful then, and this morning, for the sighting of a sleek doe less than 200 feet away. The dogs had no sense of her passing through. I am so grateful to my parents for this life, for the capability to love unconditionally, for the fortune that brought Christine and I together, and for the life weve made together. Happy 4th of July to all peoples of the United States, and especially to all my friends and loved ones... May we have a better union in the future!! Campbell Owen Newton
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 14:47:46 +0000
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