Reflections and Stories Along the Way

This is Dick Sederquist with my thirteenth audio PODCAST. It’s called “Slowing Down”. You can hear this in my resonant bass voice on my audio PODCAST on your computer and at iTunes at “Reflections and Stories Along the Way”. You can also read it on my BLOG. I’m told I have a radio voice, so pretend you are listening to the radio. Being close to your grandkids has many benefits. It’s like watching and re-experiencing your own kids, their parents, growing up again. These little guys are also watching you like a hawk. You can’t get away with anything. In the first grade, my granddaughter had a session in school on etiquette. I should have known that, from then on, I was in big trouble.

This is Dick Sederquist with my 12th audio PODCAST called “Floating Down”. It’s an audio update to a previous written BLOG. No wonder when we look up to the skies, we call it heaven. We owe everything to the heavens from which everything came, the grains of space rock and dust, which accreted to form our planet four and a half billion years ago, the comets which brought us our water and oceans, the sunlight which nourished the first primitive plants and algae in our oceans producing life giving oxygen. We even owe the malevolent space rock that impacted the Earth wiping out the dinosaurs, allowing a new species to inherit the Earth. Without this, there would never have been the rise of mammals and human life on earth. We would never have been able to contemplate the sources of our existence, and all the things, including feathers, which float down from the sky. From the skies and the stars, we received the gifts of life and intelligence, gifts we cherish, honor and protect. We celebrate these gifts through our human and global connection called love. I can’t think of anything better than love that connects us together under a common sky and heaven.

This is Dick Sederquist with my 119th BLOG and eleventh PODCAST called “The Gift”. You can read the printed version here on my BLOG or listen to the audio version on my PODCAST or at “Reflections and Stories Along the Way” on iTunes. A friend of mine, Frank, recently passed away. I consider him one of my heroes because he persisted in spite of extreme adversity. Most of all, he helped others suffering from his same affliction. This is my tribute to him. He is the older gentleman in this story I wrote several years ago. In addition to service to his country, his local town and municipal water and sewage treatment district, Frank also ran a local political blog and served as a Town Constable and Justice of the Peace. He volunteered all over the state giving talks to school children about the dangers of smoking and taught and assisted new victims of his affliction on the use of artificial speech devices.” Here is my story, called “The Gift” about Frank and his new friend.

In the opening session of my eight session volunteer motivational prison program “Life Change Discussion Group” I usually read the following essay to set the tone and attitude of our first meeting, to get the guys thinking quiet thoughts. Over the years, I have developed certain strategies, ways of looking at things, which help me feel better and get over the humps and speed bumps of life. One strategy I call “walking softly”, showing quiet reverence and appreciation for the environment, the world and people around me, and for myself. This is Dick Sederquist with my tenth audio podcast. I call this essay, “Walking Softly”.

This is Dick Sederquist with my ninth podcast. This was my very first piece of fiction. It’s for the child in you, and in us all. When my daughter was small, lying next to her before tucking her in, I would tell a silly little story about her favorite hand puppet and an adventure they had in a magic land located on the other side of the mirror inside her closet. I did this with appropriate gestures and sound effects. I did the same, but a different theme for her children when they had a sleepover at Nana and Grandpa’s. This time, lying between them on top of our king size bed, I told stories about a magic transporter box.

This short story is called “The Magic Box”, written for my grandchildren when they were at the bedtime story telling age. It’s a sequel to my true story “The Magic Picture Window” found in my first memoir “Hiking Out”. Writing for children is a lot of fun, certainly different than for older teens and adults. It’s a whole new set of writing rules, which reminds me, I have two blogs on a guide to writing a nonfiction memoir called “Telling Your Story” and “The I’s in Writing”. This fictional story is about Johnny and Marylou, alter egos of my grandchildren. It’s how Johnny and Marylou found the magic box. Maybe you have a magic box in your house. If you have children, I bet they know where it is.

This is Dick Sederquist with my eighth Reflections and Stories Along the Way podcast. I wrote this two-part mystery, a departure from my normal nonfiction writing, a few years ago after a visit to Dudleytown. Unlike television that bombards your senses with a thousand images a minute, the old late night radio plays would suck you in with a single seductive mental image, which slowly evolved as the plot thickened. Think of me as your radio narrator. Hide under your covers in a darkened room, like I did as a child with my radio. Don’t think about those scary things hiding under your bed and in the closet. This story may be fictional, except for some historical and contemporary parts, but in the telling it provides insight into how those old radio plays influenced the mind of the child and taught him to visualize and turn mental pictures into words. My writing style is expressed in my own quote “I paint pictures with words”. I never realized how telling those words are. Here is my tale. Imagine yourself in a scary place called Dudleytown.

I grew up in the golden age of radio. On a Sunday evening, you could find an entire family huddled around the radio in rapt and silent attention. I remember looking at the radio listings in the newspaper and wondering if the Red “Skeleton” Program was going to be scary ghost story. My father pointed out that Red “Skelton” was a famous vaudevillian and comedian. He was a funny guy. On weeknights, you would find me under the covers listening to every mystery and scary story that radio offered. This is Dick Sederquist again with my seventh “Reflections and Stories Along the Way” audio PODCAST. This short story, written in 2004, is called “Radio Nights”. This is for the good old days when people told stories that would take your breath away and make your hair stand on end. Here we go.

I wrote this story 7 years ago about nine months after successful left knee joint replacement surgery. My son says this was just another step in me becoming the bionic man. Hello there. This is Dick Sederquist with my sixth “Reflections and Stories Along the Way” Podcast. It’s called “ The Tin Man”. When it comes to quality of life, surgery is often the only option. Stay tuned for many more Podcasts on iTunes and my web site at www.dicksederquist.com

I finally got around to making this recording. I had back surgery two weeks ago. My discomfort caused me to procrastinate. It's been hard focusing on any task. Now that I/m feeling better, I’m back again with my fifth “Reflections and Stories Along the Way” PODCAST. This one is called “Walking with Clowns”. It’s about a band of brothers. I just returned from our 41st annual Winter Weekend Snowshoe "Clown" Trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Unfortunately, due to my upcoming back surgery, I had to sit out the snowshoeing and just enjoy the wood stove and camaraderie of 20 friends I haven't seen in a while. Two of our clowns, Jon and George, have passed away since I wrote this story over ten years ago. I dedicate this PODCAST to their memory and to all my clown friends who take nothing in life more serious than friendship.

This is my fourth “Reflections and Stories Along the Way” Podcast. It’s called “Sundial” a true short story I wrote about ten years ago. It’s about the peace and solace I found after accidentally losing my watch on a wilderness trip with my young son, following the untimely death of my mother from lung cancer. Stay tuned for many more Podcasts on iTunes and my web site at www.dicksederquist.com