A flower carved into a redwood block.
A roadrunner carved from a piece of driftwood he found on a nearby beach.
Two views of a piece he called "Gorilla," carved from redwood.
A piece he carved in redwood and painted and titled "Wake Up!"
Then I found this audio clip read by William Stafford that reminded me of my Dad, especially because William Stafford was also born in 1914, the year World War I began. A post by Solitary Walker led me to the Mendocino Botanical Gardens and reminded me of my dad's love of gardening and the landscape where he and my mother lived for many years after my dad retired.
This morning I found this prayer he wrote exactly nine months before he died:
MY DAILY PRAYER TO MY ALMIGHTY GOD
You are above all creation.
In it You have created all universes and everything in them.
In it You have created millions of stars and planets, far apart.
In it You have created the greatest physical force in our Universe, the magnificent sun.
In it You have created the planet for us all to live on, the Earth.
In it we have You, the sun, oceans, mountains, caves, rivers, lakes, rain, snowflakes, waterfall, forests, land, air waves we cannot see, every living creature and the most powerful force of all, Love.
Thank You my Almighty God for everything on our planet, Earth.
I ask You, my Almighty God, to forgive me for any harm I have done.
I ask You, my Almighty God, to forgive anyone who harmed me, whether I knew it or not.
You are above all human beings that You have created.
No one on Earth can be compared to You, my Almighty God.
Amen.
Dad, thank you for being my father.
