Yeah, I was a Swinger of Birches, and anything else that was climbable when I was 7-8 or so. Then a branch broke, I came down fast and hard and broke my left elbow in two places, Spent all summer in a cast, and when the cast came off I couldn’t move the elbow. Took another month or two to get it loose enough to use. That’s when I learned to climb only when necessary, and then to first check the stability and weight bearing capacity of whatever I was going to climb. That was 80 years ago, and have yet to break another bone.
Bob SykesJune 27, 2018, 4:00 PM
Birches grow wild in clumps in rural NE MA, and I, too, swung on them. But I was lucky. I fell off a bending trunk more than once, but never got anything other than bruises and scrapes. Great fun if you are young and small.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
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Yeah, I was a Swinger of Birches, and anything else that was climbable when I was 7-8 or so. Then a branch broke, I came down fast and hard and broke my left elbow in two places, Spent all summer in a cast, and when the cast came off I couldn’t move the elbow. Took another month or two to get it loose enough to use. That’s when I learned to climb only when necessary, and then to first check the stability and weight bearing capacity of whatever I was going to climb. That was 80 years ago, and have yet to break another bone.
Birches grow wild in clumps in rural NE MA, and I, too, swung on them. But I was lucky. I fell off a bending trunk more than once, but never got anything other than bruises and scrapes. Great fun if you are young and small.