Re: NANFA-- Off topic: Thanks. George.

Roselawn Museum (roselawn_at_mindspring.com)
Mon, 03 Dec 2001 10:21:21 -0500

Excellent, Bob! George won't find a better eulogy than this.

Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA
(another wanderer on Abbey Road)

At 08:53 PM 11/30/01 -0500, you wrote:
>This is in memory of former Beatle George Harrison, who passed away today.
>George wrote and performed a lot of nice music, both with the other members
>of the Beatles, and later, on his own. I'll always be grateful to him for
>"Here comes the sun," from the Abbey Road album. I bought the album when it
>first came out, in 1969. I was in the eighth grade and living in my home
>town of Jersey City, New Jersey.
>
>In those preglobal warming days, winters were more intense and hung on a lot
>longer than they do now. They came on cheerfully enough, with Thanksgiving,
>the winter holidays, and the bright optimism of another New Years day. Snow
>fell, a pure clean blanket of white that covered asphalt and concrete, old
>newspapers and gumwrappers. The blanket of white was the great equalizer,
>covering up the detritus of urban life, reminding us all that we were a part
>of the greater natural world.
>
>But cars and buses, and the boots of passers by soon turned the clean
>whiteness into icy gray slush. The slush soon froze, covered up by more
>clean whiteness turned gray, and finally, sooty black. January dragged on
>to the interminable icy barrenness of February. All of the ponds in Lincoln
>park were frozen; I had to suspend my quest for the great grandpa carp that
>spit my hook at the shoreline on my first fishing trip to Lincoln park lake.
>
>Life became a contest of endurance, a dreary trek through the icy black
>streets, back and forth from the disinfectant-smelling prison of grammar
>school. I wondered if winter would ever end.
>
>And then came the song. I knew Harrison hadn't written it for me, but it
>spoke to me, and my great beacon of hope. Well, not a beacon, exactly.
>More like a beam. A sun beam:
>
>Little darlings, it's been a long cold lonely winter
>Little darlings, It seems like years since it's been clear
>Here comes the sun
>Here comes the sun...
>
>This bright ray of hope sustained me, through to the spring thaw, to that
>magnificent gift of summer vacation, when I could get up every day before
>six and catch a couple of dozen carp and wild goldfish before any other
>urban fishermen were even awake.
>
>Whenever I think of the song, I can still see the bright sun in the sky,
>it's soul restoring rays gleaming off the reeds of Twin Island pond,
>sparkling on the puddles that had just this morning appeared on on the ice.
>
>It's alright.
>
>And I hope George, that wherever you are in the sweet by and by, that you'll
>always be able to see the sun.
>
>Thanks.
>
>
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org