words

the freedom of an eagle when she flies

October 10, 2024 etikser

I have seen the morning
Burning golden on the mountain in the skies
Aching with the feeling
Of the freedom of an eagle when she flies
— Kris Kristofferson
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I haven’t been writing much lately. It’s like I forgot how to type words. I forgot the freedom. The freedom of just typing words. We don’t ever want to lose the freedom of just typing words, do we?

“I have seen the morning burning golden…” These have been some of my favorite words for years and years. Some of my favorite words of all time. Why? Because of the way they sound, for certain…morning burning golden, aching with the freedom. Don’t they sound the way words were created to sound? And the picture? The picture they put in my mind? A picture I look up to see in the morning, on every good morning. I wonder what those big birds think when they circle up there. Do they think, oh whoah, that’s a long way down? Or do they look down from above the tallest branches of my favorite oak trees, and do they see it as their domain? Their purview? Their reach? Do they see it like I see the plants and trees that surround me? The plants and trees I look out and see affectionately as my own.

All our souls matter. Souls like Kris Kristofferson’s for sure matter. He gave us the gift of beautiful words and music that reaches down to the very gut of our existence. There’s God, who’s above all. And there’s the stuff of birds and trees and good picking guitar strums and words and souls. They all matter. Beautiful words matter. Beautiful words have a special place in our universe.

Thanks to Kris Kristofferson for his beautiful words.

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Lovin’ Her Was Easier (1971) by Kris Kristofferson

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words, writing

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 etikser

The words we write are part of who we are. That was my motivation, I think.

I decided early this year to work on collecting my bits of writing in some sort of permanent way. Not to publish it, but to have it for myself. Also to have it for those in my life who might care to read it, and maybe keep it.

My goal was to assemble it all in a way that would make turning pages a pleasure. Something with sturdy covers, good quality paper, etc. Nice enough to wrap in tissue paper and hand to someone as a gift.

It started old school with printing copies and storing my work in a three-ring binder. Functional, but certainly not gift worthy.

Eventually, I decided to use the formatting from one of those companies that produces photo calendars, photo cards, and photo books. And chose their simplest style 8 inch by 10 inch photo book product, which includes stretchable text boxes.

I selected about 25 of my written pieces and some of my photos, and set to work. It was tedious. There was no ‘cut and paste’, so it took a lot of ‘delete and re-type’. Start overs, and of course, proofing. It was a project to make everything fit and have a sequencing and flow that made sense and looked good. I enjoy that sort of work, but it’s not something you can throw together in a couple of days.

Ta da … I completed one collection in the spring, and I just finished another for the winter. This isn’t an ad for photo companies, but their production and the paper products they use were more than I hoped for. Coffee table book quality materials, glossy pages, attractive covers, and nice binding. It optimized what I had to offer.

The costs were reasonable, and I’m happy to have a personalized keepsake to gift this Christmas.

For me, for myself, I get to leaf through the pages and feel like the words I write matter. And see that they have a little bit of permanence.