[Oe List ...] I Thought I Would Share Some Thoughts

[Sunny Walker]

What a treat to wake up to! Much gratitude.

On Fri, Jan 31, 2025, 6:23 AM Dianne Greenwald via OE <
oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> This made my day.  My dear brother, Al, just wrote the world needs us to
> have fun and laugh.   The depth of that action as an elder is marvelous!
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 30, 2025, at 8:16 PM, Leah Early via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> wrote:
>
> How delightful, Milan! I appreciate your humor and energy at 88 years of
> age. And I ,too, love the notion of keeping our stories alive.
> Thank you,
> Leah Early
>
> On Jan 30, 2025, at 3:55 PM, Milan Hamilton via OE <
> oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
>
> First, I want to say a big heartfelt thank you to those of you, my
> colleagues and friends, who responded to my earlier GoFundMe request on
> behalf of our local Neighborhood Climate Action Redlands (ANCA Redlands)
> efforts.
>
> Second, I want to say thank you to all of you, who are now members of my
> collegial council as we try to navigate the turbulent and heating-up waters
> of the 21st century. We have done marvelous things as a body. I just
> remembered the night Lyn Mathews invited Dave McClesky, Frank Knutson and I
> to her little retirement community apartment and said those words or
> something like them. And our good friend and mentor Georgianna McBurney was
> constantly expressing similar sentiments. I am thankful for all we have
> done as a people, trying to keep alive the dream MLK spoke of so eloquently
> just before he was struck down.
>
> Third, I am thankful for all you as the Order dispersed have accomplished
> and been able to share in vicariously through the gift of the internet and
> social media, with all its flaws and pitfalls.
>
> Fourth, I am attaching a copy of the vision and goals our ANCA Redlands
> crew have been operating out of and implementing for these past two and a
> half years. If anything we are doing at the local level looks like it might
> be of value in your piece of the globe, we are happy to share it. It was
> the work of our colleagues in Denver who started this ANCA thing that
> inspired us to give it a go here in Redlands. You can Google ANCA
> Redlands or click the link <https://redlands-anca.hub.arcgis.com/> if
> anyone you know might be interested. And just in case anyone missed my
> GoFundMe appeal, I am happy to share that here as well—Click Here!
> <https://gofund.me/58b7b70b>
>
> Fifth, and last, I am sharing a couple of poems. The first one was written
> and read to my writing group on the occasion of the mass pardoning of the
> January 6th insurrectionists. The second was in response to Linda asking
> me if I had written my birthday poem yet. (Our gang here was in the habit
> of composing birthday songs for milestone birthdays and sadly, as the gang
> has dwindled, so has our practice). So the poem I wrote seemed to be more
> fitting for a song. The reason for sharing is that we all have a story to
> tell. I don’t want any of yours to be lost. The inspiration for the song is
> the great Merle Travis immortal hit “Sixteen Tons.” I have included an
> attached MP3 file to the version I chose with a little help from AI.
>
> *A Very Personal Poem*
>
> (on the occasion of the pardon and release of 1500 January 6th
> Insurrectionists)
>
> I woke up this morning.
>
> Does that mean I’m woke?
>
> I’m approaching number 88,
>
> Grateful that I ain’t broke.
>
> I may be badly bent.
>
> I feel like something’s missing.
>
> I can’t tell where it went.
>
> If you know, don’t tell me.
>
> Maybe I’ll give it up for Lent.
>
> Can’t find my rose-colored glasses.
>
> Maybe I’ll borrow yours.
>
> I watched them all get passes.
>
> They just walked out the door,
>
> To join the huddled masses
>
> Still yearning to know the score.
>
> Milan Hamilton
>
> January 23, 2025
>
> *Eighty-Eight Years*
> 1.         I – was born one mornin’ in the Great Depression,
>
> Raised on the plains on a reservation,
>
> Got an education but I’m still not done,
>
> My life rolls on ‘til the setting sun.
>
>
>   Chorus: Ya live eighty-eight years and whatta ya get?
>
> Another year older and ya ain’t dead yet.
>
> St. Peter’s still a-waitin’ for the dice to be rolled.
>
> But I’m not goin’ ‘til my story’s been told.
>
> 2.    It’s 2025 and where have I been.
>
> The years flew by – It’s beyond my ken.
>
> I better get a-writin’ ‘fore I’m too damn old,
>
> Before they lay me down – stiff and cold.
>
>
>   Chorus: Ya live eighty-eight years and whatta ya get?
>
> Another year older and ya ain’t dead yet.
>
> St. Peter’s still a-waitin’ for the dice to be rolled.
>
> But I’m not goin’ ‘til my story’s been told.
>
> 3.    My life is a song – hasn’t been sung yet,
>
> No one to sing it but there’s no regret.
>
> I’ll sing it myself when the darkness comes,
> And go out dancin’ on the grim reaper’s drum.
>
>
>  Chorus: Ya live eighty-eight years and whatta ya get?
> Another year older and ya ain’t dead yet.
> St. Peter’s still a-waitin’ for the dice to be rolled.
> But I’m not goin’ ‘til my story’s been told.
> *Milan Hamilton, January 25, 2025, Thank you Merle Travis*
> -
> Mellow Milan Hamilton
> 80 North Center Street
> Redlands, CA 92373
> Phone: (909) 943-1667
> email: mellowmilan2 at gmail.com
> <ANCA Vision & Goals_20250128_0001.pdf><Song.mp3>
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