There’s a low-key movement in country music away from the sequined blue jeans and pop glamour that it’s turned into. Some folks would rather listen to an old dobro, a fiddle or a banjo and the guy on the other end sing about real life struggles, triumphs, and love. Those people that prefer this new wave, crave a return to the old ways…the days of Hank, Merle and Waylon. Where song writers questioned the government, praised the Lord and sung songs about love lost or found again. Oliver Anthony, Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers are among this list of throwbacks to an era where words mattered.
I know another “throwback”.
An Old Soul.
It’s long been said that the one they call Bear was born a
generation or three too late. He would have done well as an explorer, a
trapper, or a lumberjack…a child of the woods with the manners of a polished
gentleman. He’s a guy that knows the value of a man’s word when it comes sealed
with the promise of a firm handshake. He takes pleasure in each sunrise and
sunset, best enjoyed in a duck blind or deer stand. Logan appreciates the
little things in life like freshly cut grass, the morning songbirds, and the importance
of regularly buying your special lady a pretty bouquet of flowers.
He's always been that way. He was the earliest riser on our
family camping trips. At two years of age, I remember him tending the fire and
checking on his sleeping siblings before the rooster crowed. Logan doesn’t have
to avoid crowds but chooses to and would rather canoe into the Boundary Waters
than take a train into the city for some culture and a crowded concert. On the
first day of school last September, his Senior year, he didn’t need the
personal teenage affirmation of a loaded gymnasium full of excited volleyball
fans. Instead, he sat high in a tree and sent an arrow through the boiler room
of a big black bear – the culmination of weeks, months and years of preparation
and practice. Providing for his family, skillfully and respectfully harvesting
a beautiful animal to share with his loved ones – that’s what feeds his soul.
An Old Soul.
Like my buddy Ben – Logan is cool without even trying. There
is a certain ease about everything that they do. Not much gets to them. Neither
is easily shaken but both are observant and thoughtful, sharp and purposeful. Through
hard work, dependability, and a certain self-confidence Logan and Ben let their
actions speak of their character. Together I imagine the two of them running a
stagecoach across the Oregon Trail or paddling with Lewis and Clark up the
Missouri River. They would have thrived being self sufficient as trappers in the
French Fur trade or frontiersman exploring the wilderness of Alaska.
But alas, they are here now and we’re the lucky ones for
knowing them. Maybe we could learn a few lessons from them, really. Slow down;
work hard; listen more and talk less. Let our actions do the talking in place
of good intentions; put others before self. Try new things and be a good
person.
Maybe one day they’ll write country songs about you.
Bear & Zen Master circa 2016
