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Friday, July 9, 2010
Random 'Holland' Thoughts - Connection to Nature - Part 2I hope you have had a great work week and are looking forward to a wonderful weekend.
As I stated in my last post I have decided to go on a little different path with my blog for the next several weeks due
to my schedule with Ironman training, work, guests who will be arriving to cheer me on and the race.
On Wednesday
I decided to 'wing-it' and talk about 'Random Holland Thoughts'. I
began by sharing some thoughts on embracing 'Humor' in our lives and
re-learning to simply 'Laugh'! To illustrate this aspect of life I told a story about my dad and today
would like to share my second 'Random Holland Thought' and
illustrate it again by sharing a piece of my life with my dad.
It is funny how pieces of your life ebb and flow
over the years. Things that you thought were so important at one point in your life don't seem so important now and things
that you may not have felt were important or would be a 'lasting' part of your life have re-surfaced and are important again.
The second 'Random Holland Thought' I would like
to share is:
* Connection to Nature
I
grew up in central Pennsylvania and summers in PA were long, humid and hot. I don't know when or why my dad loved to
do this but he did and at an early age he introduced me to fishing. As a young boy my dad and I would go to a little local
lake and fish from the shore. As I got older my dad bought a 12 aluminum flat bottom boat and we rowed all over the lake.
In April we would fish for trout and once summer was in full swing we fished for bass. I don't know how often we would go
but it seemed to be a couple times a week. I don't know what it was but for my dad.....being on the water......enjoying nature......and
being quiet and just taking in the sounds were so very important.
When I was able to drive we would take two cars, strap
our little 12 foot boat on the roof of one of the cars and we would go up to the Juniata river to fish for bass. We would
drop one car down stream and then head about 8 miles up stream with our boat. Once there we would launch and just spend the
day floating down the river fishing. Mom packed us lunch and snacks and we spent 10 or so hours floating down the river and
fishing.
What is intriguing about those trips is was what we did for all that time together.......we simply
fished, enjoyed nature and the sounds....that's it. We didn't have life-changing conversations.....my dad wasn't a big talker......we
were simply quiet....enjoying the outdoors, fishing and being together. I will always remember the joy and look in my dad's
eye when I made a great cast to a good spot or caught a nice largemouth bass. We didn't keep the fish most of the time we
just enjoyed catching them and then releasing them back into the river. In true dad fashion he was more concerned with me
catching the fish than he was about him catching them.
As I got older and was in my latter high school years
I became busy with my sports and activities and I wasn't able to go with my dad as much.......but we still carved
out our Juniata river trip and some occasions to wade the Susquehanna river in late August. However my dad was a faithful
fisherman whether I was with him or not. I will always remember him after dinner going up to our little lake a couple
nights a week or early on a weekend for some alone time fishing for a few hours. At that point in my life I never really
understood the draw of going fishing alone........now, decades later........I so understand.
It is so funny how
'life' comes full circle........I fished so much with my dad for all those years growing up and then stopped for probably
30 years. When I moved to the Adirondack mountains and this area I began to fish again. I enjoyed taking Sierra and Mariah
out on the boat and fishing. I will always remember the looks in their eyes when they caught something and then I understood
the joy of what my dad felt all those years. There are many times I will go out on my boat alone at night or for a few hours
on the weekend and fish......but also just to be quiet, appreciate nature and the connection to all the sights and sounds
nature provides.
Sometimes I will take a book and just find a cove to park in and just read and relax. Last week
I was in a special little cove I've found and I was sitting there reading and enjoying the warmth of the sun when the bull
frogs started calling. They made such a ruckus it was incredible......one would call and another one would answer and then
a third one would chime into the mix. I sat there and just soaked it all in.......I also smiled.......looked up to heaven......and
said 'Thanks Dad'.......for 'Connecting Me to Nature'.
(Our little lake we went to growing up was filled with bull frogs and when I heard those sounds last week it took me back
forty years to being with dad!)
As many of my faithful readers know my two daughters Sierra and Mariah have moved
to Seattle and I am truly now 'alone'. People have asked me if I'll move out of this area now that my daughters are 3000 miles
away. Every time I am asked that question I give the same response.......for now I am fine where I am......but If I move it
would have to be near the water. I would have to have access to a lake or river system.......the Chesapeake bay, Delaware
river......the Tennessee river or one of the lakes in those areas of the country. My connection to nature and being on the
water is too strong to break and is something that will be a part of my life, for the rest of my life.
I have
told my kids that when I die I want them to take my ashes and go on the lake or river that is near my house. I want them to
get in my bass boat and I want them to each tromp it full throttle and go sailing up the lake......all the while letting my
ashes go free to 'Connect with Nature'. I want them to smile, cry, laugh and remember that in a small way.......their dad
was trying to impart to them.....what my dad imparted to me.......to 'Connect to Nature'.
Once again I have shared this 'Random
Holland Thought'? for several reasons:
* To honor my Dad (Who I didn't realize it as it was happening, but now realize that he was teaching
me a wonderful 'life' lesson by example. That it is OK to be quiet, alone, taking in the sights and sounds
of nature and appreciating God's creation.)
* To continue to help you get to 'know' me and what makes me who
I am
* To again maybe challenge you to take time in your busy weekend and go somewhere, be quiet and 'Connect
with Nature'!
My friends, thanks for taking the time in your busy day to be with me.........I
appreciate it more than you know. Have a great weekend and I will be back on Monday with another
'Random Holland Thought'. As always, thanks for listening/reading and remember to:
2:44 pm edt
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Random 'Holland' Thoughts - 'Humor' -Part 1Welcome back on this fine Wednesday: I hope you had a wonderful
'Holiday' weekend and are easing back into your work week. As many of you know I am training for my first 'Ironman' Triathlon
in Lake Placid New York on July 25th. It is a full 'Ironman' which consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a
26.2 mile run and I am now 2 and 1/2 weeks away from 'Race Day'. I share this because I have decided to go on a little different
path with my blog for the next several weeks due to my schedule with training, work, guests who will be arriving and the race.
I have decided to 'wing-it' and talk about 'Random Holland Thoughts'
over the next several weeks. Now; those of you that know me are smiling because you know that is how my mind works.......rather
randomly. I know that there are times I am with friends and we are thinking of ideas and all of a sudden I will rip off ten
'random' ideas/thoughts in a matter of a minute.....then I will seriously look at my friends and say: 'What do you think?'
They in turn will look at me with a bewildered look on their face and say: 'Which of those totally random 10 things you just
spewed out do you want me to comment on?' I then smile as I realize that I got 'ramped' up and sometimes, can talk at 100
miles-per-hour with gusts up to 130! (My close friends soooooooo get this!  )
With that thought/fact established the first 'Random Holland Thought'
I want to share is the need to embrace 'Humor' in our lives, to simply
'Laugh'! I have shared in my posts about my 89 year-old mother who lives in Dallas and I have shared some
about my dad. This 'Random Holland Thought' is dedicated to my dad.
(Now my mom is smiling because she knows where I am going with this!) My dad loved to laugh......he just loved to laugh. He
wasn't a real big 'joke' teller but just enjoyed laughter and comedy.
Growing up my dad would read the paper every
day but he would especially read the comic section. I can remember being in the house and all of a sudden hearing a peel of
laughter coming from the family or living room. Usually I knew immediately; 'Dad is reading the funnies.' Sometimes his laughter
continued and I could hear him coming through the house with the paper rustling under his arm, laughing all the way. I knew
what he was doing.......he was looking for me, my sister or my mom and he wanted us to read the 'comic' strip he just read.
Sometimes he would be laughing so hard he would be crying as he handed you the newspaper. Sometimes he could hardly speak
because he was still belly laughing so he would just point at which 'comic strip' we should read.
Now I must admit
many of the comics were truly funny but I also know it was just as much fun watching the 'kick' my dad got out of that particular
one. There would be times he would cut the actual strip out and take it into work so he could share it with some of his friends
when they met for coffee in the morning or at lunch time.
My dad's love of humor and laughter didn't just
involve the 'funny papers' but he also loved watching some of the early 'sit-coms' and comedy shows like the 'Red Skelton
Hour'. I can remember many a night watching with my dad as 'Red' played the different characters he made so famous
on his show, 'Freddie the Freeloader, Clem Kadittlehoper, Gertrude and Heathcliff and the list went on and on.' Those moments
were special with my dad for several reasons: #1. Just being together, he and I #2. Just laughing together and #3. Laughing
at things that weren't dirty or off-color but just situations in life.
In many ways I am a combination of
my mom and dad but when it comes to my humor and love of laughter I think I got the majority of that gene from my dad.......I
too love to laugh. I don't watch much TV but there are several sitcoms I like to watch and I enjoy comedy whether it is done
'live' at a comedy club, a movie or on TV. I have been to the 'Improv Club, Second City' in Chicago many times and
I almost get embarrassed at myself at how much I can laugh. When I am at a place like that I have learned to not eat or drink
anything during the actual show because I have on occasion had to quickly cover my mouth as my laughter and the food I was
eating were 'at odds'. (Sorry but it is true!)
Yesterday I was down at my dock on the lake and I had two different
events that just made me laugh. Both events involved dogs: My labs and my neighbor's dog 'Dakota'. I was relaxing in a chair
on the dock as I watched 'Dakota' chase waves that would hit the dock. Everytime a boat went by Dakota would pace up and down
the whole dock waiting for the 'wake' to crash into the dock. Once it started hitting the dock he would lean over the edge
and try and 'bite' the splashes. He would keep snapping at the splashing water and sometimes would mis-judge the height of
the splash and would take a wave square in the face. He would also chase the 'breaking waves' down the entire length of the
dock continuously trying to 'bite' the splashing water. He did this everytime a boat came by and created a wake at our dock......over
and over again he 'attacked' the splashes all afternoon. I will video it one of these days and post on my Facebook page for
Holland Meads Consulting......it is a hoot.
The second involved my big black Lab 'Moses'. Moses loves to chase
and retrieve sticks or anything you'll throw in the water for him. He will run the entire length of my 25 foot floating dock
and airborne into the water after one of his toys we have thrown. He will do it over and over and over again. One of the other
things he will do is when he has the toy back in the sandy part of our beach he will take his paw and push the toy under water
to see where it comes up. Then he will 'pounce' on the toy like he thought it was going to attack him. He will dig in the
sand and then loose the toy and it will 'miraculously' pop up to the surface beside him or behind him and he will act startled
and then pounce on it again. He will continue to do this and seems to just have a hoot playing 'hide and seek' in the water
with his toy. He'll bark at it and keep pouncing on it till I wade in and get it so I can throw it again.
Both
of the stories about Dakota and Moses made me smile yesterday and I also couldn't help laugh at their 'antics'. Now, why am
I sharing this 'Random Holland Thought'? I guess for several reasons:
* To honor my dad who taught me the value of laughter
* To continue to help you get
to 'know' me
* Hopefully my stories made you smile......our days go better if we smile and laugh 
* To help you understand there is 'healing' in laughter and when we laugh we 'feel' better
* To challenge
you to take time in your busy week and schedule to just 'laugh' sometimes. Watch a funny TV show, go to a comedy club, or
find the many funny things that happen everyday to all of us. (The challenge many times is we have 'funny' events happen to
us all the time but we get so busy and so caught up in life we miss the moment.)
My friends, no matter how
difficult life is......and I know it is difficult......please remember to take the time to enjoy life.......and to just
laugh! I will be back on Friday, July 9th with another 'Random Holland
Thought'. As always, thanks
for listening/reading and remember to:
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