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Monday, April 15, 2013

The Library - Your Secret Retreat




As a child growing up in rural Buena Vista (18 miles west of Portsmouth, OH on US52) in the late 1940's, my school was a two room building with first and second grades in one, and third and forth in the other. Aromas of chalk dust, coal smoke, oiled floors and lunch pails filled with baloney or "PBJ samiches"and an apple.

One of my fondest memories of those imprintable days of youth was of the Bookmobile's visit. Here in an old 1930's bus, converted to a library on wheels, where you entered in the rear door, up the steps and into a magical world filled with shelves loaded with new titles on both sides. Here you chose the books that would fill your bedtime quiet with stories of places and people and times you may never know. Then with open book still resting on your little chest, to drift into sleep with visions dancing about until first light.

  In that musty old bus, was one of my first glimpses to the world beyond my culture. It was on this bus, that I learned to explore words, ideas, other places, and so much more. 

 “In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”  Mark Twain


Your library, be it a Bookmobile, school library, or our magnificent Carnegie built Portsmouth Public Library... is your gateway to exploration.


You can "google," “search,” “find” so much on the internet… download Kindle, Nook and PDF files to your PC or reader… the world may well be at your fingertips…  

...but nothing can replace the satisfaction of setting in a library, experiencing the tangible feeling of holding a real book in your hand, turning page after page as you fill your mind with words, meanings and visions imagined. All experienced in the silent solitude among the stacks and rows of millions of words there for you to discover.   

“A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people - people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”                    - E. B. White 

Yes, there are many avenues for reading sources, but none can replace the sacred home of wisdom and pleasure know as your Public Library.

This is National Library Week!

Visit the library near you and rekindle (no pun intended) that experience you can find nowhere else. Retreat into the solitude of your mind, filling it in single, uninterrupted purpose.

It is your library, use it!



Celebrate National Library Week With Us! Monday, April 15th


During NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK and throughout April, libraries of all types host special events to highlight the unique role libraries play in people’s lives. Todays libraries can help you and your family discover a new and exciting world through collections, digital resources and more. Whether you come for homework or job searches, help with citizenship issues or finances, adult education classes or to find the best books for young readers, libraries are a great place to spend quality time and connect with loved ones and friends.



Portsmouth Public Library Bookmobile


The Portsmouth Public Library has operated a bookmobile since 1938 and has offered Homebound Services since 2000. The Outreach Services Department serves all communities within the Scioto County borders providing specialized services to pre-schools, daycares, public school, and nursing facilities. The Outreach Services Department provides large print books, paperbacks, and magazines. Audio books (books read on CD), DVDs, and descriptive videos for the visually impaired (DVS) are also available. For more information regarding the Outreach Services Department, please call (740) 354-5413 or e-mail Mobile Services Department.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The Long Count is Ended!


 
In the days of my ancestors...
the most joyous time had to be at the end of the Long Count, the marking of the days from the first deep cold to that of the first greening. During the days preceding what we now call "Spring," was a time of rationed meals, bitter cold and short days. 
It was the Way of Elders.

Here in the little Rocky Fork Creek valley, a narrow meandering water shot between two hill crests hundreds of feet above, and less than two hundred feet wide, the sun rises late and retires early. 

Here in our solitude we can watch the seasons change slowly.

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come;
the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun,
and we shall soon see the results of their love!"
- Sitting Bull, Lakota Spiritual Leader

The artist in me begs to paint an image of this change that is happening for you.

No burst of color, only the steadfast creep of softness. Spring starts first at the ridge tops where the mighty oaks stand like warriors defending another time, limbs bare except for the haze of rust colored buds at each tiny branch tip. The stark grandeur of the winter forest with its skeletal shaped of black against the grey winter sky slowly gives way in this first softening.

Each morning as I sit on my front porch, I see the watercolor pallet of spring being washed downward onto the hillside. Smudges of pastel greens tell of the maples awakening and the soft yellows,  and the sudden sharp verdant of conifers stand out as harbingers of lushness to come.

In the Spring, 
I have counted 136 different kinds 
of weather inside of 24 hours.
                                                                                            -          Mark twain

The warm breeze wafts smells of new growth and warmed earth,  replacing the winter mold that had engulfed this valley. Now clouds, bright white puffs in a field of welcome blue form, to be quickly replaced with scudding black and grey forms that bring forth the life-spring of water, drenching tree, ground and animal alike in the first bath of the new year. Soon to be hurried away by strong winds, and the azure canopy returns.

The bare ground is being reclaimed, one leaf and blade at a time. Early seed heads on plants I know not, ready their bounty for the birds and animals. Snow Whites and Daffodils float above their swords of strong green, while first shoots of red-brown leaflets of the beloved peonies reach towards the heavens. There is color all about, soft pastel colors, perfect for this springtime.

This week I have counted tens of species of birds returned to our feeders. The brilliant Cardinals, and their cousins the Jays, wing in from the surrounding forest. The woodpeckers… Harry, Downey, Redhead and the “wood hen” Pileateds all find the feast awaiting. Several varieties of Sparrows, Wrens, Chickadees, Towhees, and Goldfinches now shedding their winter green for the blaze yellow have arrived.

The last couple of days Bluebirds have come to reclaim their nesting boxes in the neighbor’s yard, across the main road that dissects this place, our home. Doves with their pulsing voices, dance about, below the feeder among the small birds, sorting the seed fallen to the ground.

Now the Cowbirds, Grackles, Starlings and crows with their ravenous swarms flutter about the seed and suet. All the while several resident Buzzards ply their routes through the valley in search of the less fortunate animals. An occasional Coopers Hawk will kite about and the ever magnificent Red Tail lofting carelessly above. Even a Great Blue Herron winged down the valley, its long legs dangling behind like ribbons of cloth.

Just about now, the twitter-pated dancing and singing will start. Nesting and brooding to follow.

I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring,
when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees,
and they seem to float in space in a wonderful way.
But the arrival of spring can't be done in one picture.
                                                                                                                – David Hockney

This wonderful valley is now alive all the day, with its cacophony of song and color. Nights are a mix of brilliant indigo sky pierced with millions of tiny bright holes punched in its roof by Grandmother Hummingbird, while the dark grey shapes of plant and animal enclose us in their shadowy warmth. But there is no silence at night. The peepers and deep voices compete with the night bird songs for your delight, while the gentle breeze swishes musically through the invisible fingerlet branches about.

Add my beloved girlfriend and wife of these last fifty years, my elder brother, and our families and good neighbors…

I live in paradise.

This is my home this spring.
These are my Blessings, unearned, I receive daily.
This is why my Pot of Life remains filled to overflowing.

I pray that you have enjoyed this painting created just for you, my beloved friends,
And that a thought recalled, or smile felt will fill your Pot of Life this day also…
Megwich!

Walk in Balance

Jim Great Elk Waters    ©2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Tuesday April 2nd



Jim Great Elk Waters is one of Five Authors 
selected for Portsmouth Public Library’s first 
Local Author Showcase

Portsmouth Public Library - 1220 Gallia St. Portsmouth
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

5:30-7:30 pm

Hi Friends,

Great news!
I’ll be signing and reading from my several books this Tuesday April 2nd, at the Portsmouth Public Library - 1220 Gallia St. Portsmouth. This is the Library’s first Local Author Showcase, and should be the perfect opportunity to connect with some of our local authors, talk shop and add some great titles to your personal library at home.

My works will include:
View From the Medicine Lodge 2012
A collection of Native American stories, history, poetry, fine art and a comprehensive glossary of Algonquian language.       
           14.95+ tax (retail 16.95)
Genuine Indian Princess
The perfect genealogy tool for folks researching their American Indian heritage.            9.95 + tax (retail 12.95)
***The Complete System!***
Your Hidden Book Within  Text Book 16.97* (retail 29.97)
Your Hidden Book Within  Workbook             19.97* (retail 49.97)
The COMPLETE SYSTEM Total                   36.94* (retail 79.97)

When you buy the “Your Hidden Book Within - The Complete System, “ You will also receive a complementary 30 min. coaching call… (regularly 100.00) A total retail package 136.95 for only 36.94. A Savings of 143.00!

       We are offering a pre-publication special on the
       Mystic Medicine Lodge
       A  Five Book Set - Of one American Indian Man’s Private Books of Origin, Theology, Ritual, Culture and Philosophy of his People. "Filled with answers to the most asked questions about the Secrets of the First Peoples Mystic Ways.”…Please ask how you can be a Part of History!


The person who doesn't read good books
has no advantage over the one who can't read them.
 Mark Twain quotes 

If you have already purchased one of my books and want to have it personalized, bring it in and I’ll be pleased to resign it for you! …or if you are interested in “adopting” one of my books, please stop by and lets talk!

The Portsmouth Public Library’s Local Author Showcase is a great opportunity to promote published work, connect with fans, and talk shop with other authors. Authors of all genres and for all audiences are welcome, including self-published authors.

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books
than a king without the desire to read.
 Thomas Babington Macaulay

 A great diversity of Authors are represented  in the five selected for Tuesday’s Showcase. The works cover historic America, America’s First People, Children’s stories, Young Adult fiction, poetry, Self Help and more. The authors of this Showcase are:
·         Mary E.(Lee) Robinson-children’s fiction
·         Jim great Elk Waters- adult non-fiction
·         Col. Charles Dahnmon Whitt- adult and young adult historical fiction
·         AJ Lape- young adult fiction
·         Kathryn Morgan [Olivia Owens]-adult fiction

Please come on out Tuesday evening (5:30 to 7:30), meet the authors, and take home some great reading materials.
We Support our Portsmouth Public Library! A very big thank you to the Portsmouth Public Library and their Publicity Coordinator,
Grace Peach.

Please contact me, Jim Great Elk Waters at: jim@jimgreatelk.com... if you have any questions about my works… and if you have any questions about the library, please contact Grace Peach at: (740)354-5688