This Land is Your Land by Eleri Grace

 

As the lyrics of folk singer Woody Guthrie's classic "This Land is Your Land" note, we all share in the joy and splendor of nature's bounty "from the redwood forests to the Gulf stream waters." I would go further and say that the song is a call to action, a reminder that we all share communal responsibility for preserving our land and resources.  

It's important to note the underlying history of what many view as an alternate national anthem and tribute to the varied and dramatic landscape we Americans call home. Guthrie was annoyed by how frequently Kate Smith's "God Bless America" played on the musical radio programs of the day -- he understood it was meant to stir up feelings of patriotism and nationalism in the face of a looming European war that many believed would surely involve America at some point. But Berlin's lyrics to "God Bless America" stood in sharp contrast to the America Guthrie had seen in his travels.  His original title "God Blessed America for Me" more than hints at his anger at the socio-economic disparities within America, the land of "plenty." Like so many others from the Dust Bowl states, Guthrie migrated west during the Depression years. He criss-crossed the country at a time before interstate highways existed and at a time when people didn't have money or time for leisure travel. What he saw of America then inspired the sharp social commentary that underpins his music and writings. His music influenced the folks songs of the 60s as well as more contemporary artists such as Bruce Springsteen. 

Guthrie served in the Merchant Marines in WWII, and he recorded the original version of "This Land is Your Land" in 1944 while on shore leave. The original recording included a verse that was later excised when the song was released in 1951, but it was the sixth and final verse that was never recorded that perhaps best illustrates what motivated him to write and record this enduring American classic folk anthem: 

“One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple,
by the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if God blessed America for me.”

I fear I've gone far astray from my original point, but the more I researched the song's lyrics and origins, the more it fascinated me. While it can certainly be viewed as a tribute to the concept of a beautiful landscape that stretches from sea to shining sea, "This Land is Your Land" has quite a lot more to say about the social inequities in America that persist to this day. 

I originally intended to use the song title to springboard into a discussion of how much the Red Cross Girls who served in WWII appreciated the opportunity to see more of the world and appreciated the natural surroundings in which they served, so I'll share a few of the photos that I originally intended to include. 

Boat trip on the Nile (from Cairo)

Relaxing at a rest camp for Navy flyers - Gold Coast of Australia

May 1944 - Poggia, Italy

If you are interested in learning more about Woody Guthrie, and the history underlying "This Land is Your Land" in particular: this NPR piece, a Blackwing blog, and this Kennedy Center piece may be of interest.

You can find my Clubmobile Girls series on Amazon, and you can learn more about me and my writing on my website and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

Nature my Favorite Place by Paty Jager

If you follow me on Facebook or read my personal blog "Writing into the Sunset" you know I like to get outside and enjoy the fresh air, birds, animals, and plants. 

My "Sunday Service" is taking a hike up on the hills and ridges on and around our property. Nothing fills me with more awe and awareness of how small we all are in the scheme of things than standing on a hill and peering out at a mountain or lake or hill miles away. 

I even have names for some of the rocks I pass each day on my walk. Spirit Rock, Lady in the Cave, and Head Rock. 

Spirit Rock looks a bit like the statues on Easter Island. Though not so bulky. To me, it looks like a head and body with one arm extended and his finger pointing east. 

Spirit Rock

Lady in the Cave is a small cave in the side of the ridge with rocks inside. The rocks look like an old woman stooping over a rock as if working. Perhaps grinding berries and dried meat into pemmican. 

Lady in the Cave

And Head Rock is a rock that is shaped like a head and sits all by itself on top of another rock facing north. I had the great fortune to meet Wilson Wewa, a Paiute member, at a book signing. When I saw the cover of his book, Legends of the Northern Paiute, and it had a rock that looked like a face on the cover, I asked him about the rock. He said the face or head rocks were signs for the Native Americans. Unfortunately, because I didn't write down what he said right away, I have forgotten the rest of what he said. But he said I should be honored that it is near us. And I am. That is why I wave and say hello every time I walk by the rocks. 

Head Rock

While I know I haven't a drop of Native American blood in me, I feel a connection to nature much like they do. I think that is why so many of their sayings resonate with me. I especially like this saying:

"The Creator-The Great Mystery- lies in the heart of every aspect of life. It inhabits every tree, every stone, every creature, and every event." Voices in the Stones by Kent Nerburn. This book resonated with me in so many ways, I'd finally found something that explained how I felt. 

Birds float and drift on the air currents, their songs in the morning when I do my chores, and the thump of a covey of surprised quail flying away are all wonders I can lose myself in. Watching deer going up or coming down a hill. Fawns playing in a field. Badgers digging, throwing dirt. Sage rats running through the grass and tumbling as two begin to fight. These all amaze me. 

My favorite pastime in the spring is scouring the hills, looking for wildflowers pushing through the dirt and blooming. Giving color to the drab dirt, sagebrush, and rock. 

First buttercup this spring

As a child and teenager, my favorite place to draw or read was sitting on a small island of land between the Lostine River and the irrigation ditch. I sat among ferns in the shade of cottonwood trees. The roar and murmur of the river on one side and ditch on the other were a contrast to my body sitting still and my mind devouring the book or creating an image to capture on paper. 

Nature has always been the force that lightens my heart and gives me strength. 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 53 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

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Finding a Moment of Peace in a Busy Life by Eleri Grace

 Since I'm guest-blogging later this month on the topic of peace as experienced by the Red Cross Girl heroines of my novels, I decided to use this space for a more general and personal look at peace and how I find it through the incessant demands of everyday life. 

I wear many hats -- Mom (though the time energy required by that role dwindles as my oldest is a settled college student and my youngest moves ever closer to adulthood), lawyer, author, and co-founder of a growing college consulting business. As a consequence, I cannot remember the last time I was bored or at loose ends!  There is literally always something I could be doing, something I fear I'm not doing fast enough. Many days, it feels as though I'm working from dawn to late at night. I love my writing and my college consulting work, so neither of those pursuits feel like "work" per se. But those endeavors are also not always fully relaxing either. Any writer will tell you that writing is often a hard slog -- for as many days as the words fly out of my brain faster than my fingers can type, there are equally or more days where I stare at a blank screen or drum up one inconsequential task after another to avoid settling down into the hard work of that day's writing. 

So finding moments of peace with all the competing demands on my time is a challenge. I do take an hour-long walk every morning (unless it's pouring or below 30 degrees!). My walks are peaceful on some level, but of course, frequently my mind races to college choices for one of my clients or what sort of plot twist might work for the scene I'm currently writing. My brain doesn't always fully shut out the noise. A hike (not a walk in residential Houston) can usually prompt a true sense of peace, and I'm looking forward to once again having an opportunity to get out in nature this week as my son and I take a quick vacation in Colorado. Not sure if anything can beat this stunning view of Moraine Lake near Banff National Park, but I'm sure I will find amazing scenery there too! 

Other outlets that reliably bring me peace are two of my hobbies: scrapbooking and genealogy. Even a few hours of losing myself on Ancestry's newest databases or pulling out an old genealogical brick wall to see if I can make progress gives me a mental respite from everything else. Genealogy takes persistence and often involves many hours in front of a computer screen or microfilm reader or flipping through musty heavy volumes in a county courthouse -- the very opposite of scenic nature. But it brings its own peace all the same. 

But it's scrapbooking where I can really find a good longer-lasting dose of peace and relaxation. I eagerly look forward to my bi-annual weekend trips to Galveston with a group of close friends -- not only because of the peace and creativity scrapbooking will bring, but also the fun, the laughter and tears, and the soul-searching conversations with some of my best friends. The soothing sound of the surf helps too! It's also a great place to do some early-morning writing, before losing myself in the creativity of scrapbooking. 

Wishing all of you much peace this month, wherever and however you find it best!