Category: This and that

This post is for people who will never give it a LIKE, a 👍, a ♥, a 😂, a 😲, or a COMMENT 📝 …

Yet these are among the MOST Important PEOPLE IN MY LIFE!

They have made an impact on me in one way or another in a significant way. Some of them left us many years ago, while others have gone more recently. Each of them has left valuable life lessons for me which I will never forget.

None of them are with us today to hear what I have to say, which is that since I get tired of counting numbers for everyday tasks, I have instead come up with a way to REPLACE NUMBERS with the NAMES of people I want to remember and who are important to me.

For this particular version of my NAME GAME (I have three), these are the people from 1 to 21 👇

Buddy McBride
Ronnie Werick
Abigail Vigil

Tim Anderson
Chris Mullins
Mark Skotchdopole
Grant Bauer
CJ Coffin

Alan Lujan
Ray Griego
J J  McBride

Abel I. Vigil Sr.
Maximiliano McBride Sr.
Beatrice Vigil
Leonore McBride

Betty Mott
Bobby McBride

Johnny Montes de Oca
Jill McBride

Sneaky
Rascal

As I go through their names daily for so many things for which I would normally use numbers, now instead I think of them and send a little prayer to them and their loved ones.

While I am sad none of these people are any longer with us, I am comforted in knowing that all I have to do is to think of any of them, and in an instant, they are there with me. For the great majority of them, I remember the way they walked, the way they talked and their general demeanor.

If I have a question or a concern, I can imagine pretty much what advice or direction each of them might give me, with the exception of Sneaky and Rascal who likely would just sit there and look at me like I was stupid, or more likely, come sit beside me to comfort me.

It is common for us to mourn those who are gone, and I suppose the pain we feel should be felt, it’s real and heartfelt. For us to long for one more conversation, or one more hug, or one more kiss from those who have meant so much to us, is probably good for us as we process their loss.

Yet, it is nice to know that they are only a thought 💭 away… 😉

Who are those people who have made the greatest impact on your life?

Are they still around to call and say, “Whassup”, or have they passed on to that uncertainty which eventually awaits us all? 🤔 📝

∞ Rob McBride ∞
4 Jan 2024

In Golf, and in Life*:

As long as we keep swinging, we keep advancing.

Each day is like starting a brand new game at even par.

Even if yesterday was outstanding, today could be terrible.

A lapse in attention can make things go from bad to worse in a heartbeat.

Even though yesterday brought disaster, glory could be just around the corner.

No matter how bad the hole was that we just played, the next one can be better.

No matter how good you played the last hole, the next one can be horrendous.

Each new game we play can be similar, yet very different from the last.

Each day gives us an opportunity to take a new swing at the ball.

Focus and attention are paramount to get a good score.

If we don’t swing at the ball, we will never hit it.

When you hit a nice shot, it always feels great.

If we don’t look for a lost ball, we will not find it.

We don’t always find lost balls even if we look hard.

It’s easier to tell others what to do, than to do it ourselves.

Watching it on television isn’t the same as doing it in person.

After the most terrible shot can a come a wonderful one, and vice-versa.

One can be changed by a matter of inches, the other in a matter of minutes.

We need to take it one stroke at a time and trust that the map we have of the terrain is accurate.

When we take our eye off the ball it’s easy to lose it. Sometimes we find it, sometimes we never do.

Finding a lost ball is a lot like trying to find a lost purpose, sometimes it takes a lot of time and energy.

Noise and commotion around us can negatively affect our performance even when we try to block it out.

Lifting our gaze to our objective too soon can cause us to create a huge divot and muff forward only a few inches.

Standing up on the tee box generally gives us a good view of what we need to accomplish, but we can’t always see every single objective from the get go.

Some days we are able to get through with relatively few strokes, while on others we need to take the maximum allowable, or at times just pick up our ball and go home, wondering if we will ever go out again.

If we don’t go out to the course, we don’t score.

∞ Rob McBride ∞
15 Sep 2022

• Dedicated to my dear Daddy who loved to play all games.

On this exact date, and at about the same time I write this, my father passed away 10 years ago. Though it was heartbreaking for all of us who knew him, I was fortunate enough to be there with him at his side, or at least in the same room, when it happened. Far from the dramatic scenes we see on television or imagine in our minds of someone desperately gasping for their last breath, this was far from the case with my Daddy. He was definitely a class act to the end.

After I woke that morning, my sister Rori who had been up all night by his side asked me if I could watch him while she and others went to get something to eat, green chile breakfast burritos, if I recall correctly. I took over my watch, and after sharing some time with him by his side for a bit, I decided to take a new computer I had recently purchased for a test drive by writing a poem on it for him. This is what I wrote:

Father to the Child

So it was in the beginning
So also will it be in the end

We begin with a deep breath
And so too it will be upon our death

A babe cared for and fed
So also will it be upon our deathbed

We begin as father to the child
Taking care of them all the while

And though we are not sure if we can
Eventually we become father to the man

15 Sep 2012
∞ RHM² ∞

As I wrote these words they literally came to pass, as did he.

When Rori came back, I looked up and she as she came into the room immediately went to see my dad. She looked at me sitting there on the floor and said, “Robbie, he’s not breathing.”

I jumped up and went over to him only to find that she was right! He had passed away while I was sitting there typing away, unaware anything was amiss. As I write these words, I now chuckle to myself because this exact morning as I was playing golf on a golf course I’ve designed, I believe my father played a little trick on me by taking my ball and hiding it. His little trick encourages me to write something I have thinking about recently regarding the similarities between life and golf which I will publish separately and dedicate to his memory since he loved the game. In fact, he loved all games!

Ten years ago, my good friend Walter Elliott correctly predicted my rebirth after my father’s passing. Today I realize more than ever that my Daddy never went anywhere, he continues to be by my side with every step I take and every shot I make.

15 Sep 2022
∞ Rob McBride ∞

A new day comes with the dawn of the early morning sun
Then it disappears silently as dusk sneaks upon us

A seed germinates in the moisture and the warmth of the earth
Bringing forth into the world a fabulous new sprout

A flower spreads its delicate petals towards the sky
Then sheds them randomly as they mature

A new babe is born from the womb of his mother
Starting the clock on his non-stop trek

The circle of life is never-ending

It converts what seems to be temporary
Into a wondrous magical eternity

∞ Rob McBride ∞
22 Sep 2019

JABBERWOCKY

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

– Lewis Carroll
(Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

Walking are your footprints
the road, and nothing more;
walking there is no road,
the road is made as we walk.

As we walk, the road is made
and looking back
we see the road which will
never again be traveled.

Walking there is no road
rather a wake in the ocean.

~ Antonio Machado ~

– Traducido por Rob McBride

Every day is one day less
every night one night more
the heart asks why we have come
if everything is so light and brief

all of the beaches are beaches except
when they are invaded by the ocean
and the four seasons don’t make noise
in reality’s corners

all of the gods are gods of nothing
who are left without eternity
meanwhile with the air fight
the birds that learn to fly

all of the deaths are the deaths of another
and we forget them so as not to cry
but also there are those who /innocent/
with bare feet cross the threshold

every day is one day less
every night one night more
but if roses are still in view
life is a party to keep

– Mario Benedetti

I like you in your silence because it is as if you were not there,
and you hear me from afar, and my voice does not touch you.
It is as if eyes have taken you away
and as if a kiss seals your mouth.

As all things are filled with my soul,
you emerge from those things filled with my soul.
Butterfly of dreams, you are like my soul,
and you are like a very sad word.

I like you in your silence and it is as if you were distant.
And it is as if you were complaining, cooing butterfly.
And you hear me from afar, and my voice does not reach you:
let me be quiet in your own silence.

Let me also speak to you with your silence
clear like a lamp, simple as a ring.
You are like the night, quiet and scattered in the heavens.
Your silence is that of a star, so distant and simple.

I like you in your silence because it is as if you were not there.
Distant and hurting, as if you were dead.
Then a word, a smile are enough.
And I am happy, happy it is not so.

~ Pablo Neruda
Poem #15

*Translated by Rob McBride

Note:  Language is very diverse and translations are very dynamic.  In particular, in this poem, the word “callar” can mean many different things, including: quiet, still and silence.  I have chosen “silence” because it fits best with my personal interpretation of the poem, which alludes in part to the special relationship I feel with those who read me.  Nevertheless, there are many other excellent translations available.

This is my humble attempt to pay homage the Pablo Neruda’s wonderful words.

“Hamlet” – Act 1, Scene 3

Polonius:

Yet here, Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay’d for. There- my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion’d thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar:
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledg’d comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear’t that th’ opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment. 
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous, chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all- to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.  Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.

~ Billy Shakespeare
Macbeth

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

“The poets and the writers of our time leave the words which create history.”

@RobMcBride

“Those who write the lines which mark our time create the history others will eventually find.”

@RobMcBride

“The magic of a moment is not defined by the situation, rather by the limits of our imagination.”

@RobMcBride

What is the right way?
We all tend to say…

While I’m not sure quite exactly which is which
I do know that I have my very own way
And in this we all ultimately have our own say

So to you right here, right now, I do say
With a big smile go out into the world
And pave your own road
Mile after mile

@RobMcBride

My typical routine consists of getting up early and writing.  While I do it daily, I don’t tend to share what I write with others though sometimes I do…

Following was what I had on my mind this morning at 0614.

I welcome any comments, the text reads as follows:

The world is a dog eat dog place
Where there is no room for second place

While we may condemn the nature of war
Not only is it common and natural
But as people get a taste of it
They seem to want more

Something as simple as “Protecting our Perimeter”
How many men have “Stood the Wall”
To protect what was theirs?

Would we just leisurely allow
Someone to come into our home
Take our belongings, kids and spouse?

But of course we would not!

Yet as we seek to protect
All that we’ve got

We also seek to expand
The extent of our lot

@RobMcBride

 

More words to live by from Og Mandino…

http://youtu.be/pm5ly-YY4aE

Have you become what you always wanted to become?

Are you marching to the beat of your own drum or living a life which is just so much hum drum?

If the sum of your efforts makes you think you’ve got nothing done, then stop running and start enjoying this life which was meant for fun.

@RobMcBride

Thanks for all who have started using my new e-mail service with FeedBurner!

A couple of important points about your subscription:

1) The vast majority of what I publish are translated into English and Spanish.  You will receive only one message per day, around noon EDT, with a summary of what I have published in the last 24 hours.  If I publish nothing, you receive nothing.

If you receive a message which isn’t in the language of your preference, as was the case on the message sent on Friday, March 21st, I can suggest Google Translate.  While the translations are not perfect, they give a pretty good understanding of the message.

http://translate.google.com/

2) The subscription process has two steps.  The first step is to enter your e-mail and the verification code in this link:

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=RobMcbride&loc=en_US

This generates an automated message which is sent to your inbox with the following subject:

Activate your Email Subscription to: ∞ Rob McBride ∞

To activate your subscription, click on the link below the first paragraph which starts with this:

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and is followed by a series of letters, symbols and numbers.

As always, I welcome any comments, thoughts or suggestions you might have.

Thanks for following my writing by this medium…

Rob

I love numbers…

Me gusta este número de tweets…

“When we are congruent in thought and action, people pay attention.”

@RobMcBride

 

“A man who is not of his word does not belong in my world.”

~ Bobby McBride ~

If these walls could have eyes and speak of all they have seen

Perhaps the majority of time things so very mundane

Yet, I feel perhaps something strange happened

And it happened in el Hotel Pipo in room #909

If only someway, somehow…

These walls could tell…

@RobMcBride

As the days go by and the moon goes from a gentle smile to a great big round tile, she looks down on us all the while.

Day turns to night and then night turns to day as the moon continues on its merry way.

The cycle started long ago and will continue surely as long as we go.

In the mean time how about if I let you be you and you let me be me?

Together you and I have so much to see so, how about if we simply spread our wings and fly free?

@RobMcBride
November 2013

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
We go this way and that
As we all must

All that is in one way today
Will certainly change into
Into some other way

And though we may feel some enmity
We will blow this way and that
As we each slip into eternity

@RobMcBride
Aug 2013

* Enmity: A feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism.

Madame Butterfly you are

Forever there

Wherever I am
I feel you there

With a flap and a flut
You strut your stuff

When I least expect it
I know you are there

So subtle and sweet
I sense you are there

And so wherever I go
You also are there

~ Dedicated to my mother “Betty Madame Butterfly” ~

@RobMcBride
Oct 2010

“As the years go by, we can hide our eyes and cry or spread our wings and fly.”

@RobMcBride

“Keeping our word is perhaps our greatest sword.”

@RobMcBride

“If you can barely bear it, maybe it’s time to bare it and then, simply grin and bear it!”

@RobMcBride

So many things to do
So many places to go

Going this way and that
Going that way and this

Can this be bliss?

If this is the way
Then to you I say..

Rock it,

Let’s play!

@RobMcBride
05 Mar 13

“With sincerity and serenity we can keep away from senility.”

@RobMcBride

“Don’t delay, education is the way.”

@TriMartini

If this were now
And now was when…

What then?

@RobMcBride

Suddenly…

There was no fear, there was no fright
Rather the sun burning brazen and bright

“Though the night may be long and filled with fright, comes a time when the morning sun will shed its light.”

@RobMcBride

“It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.”

@Alan Watts

Though my arms may flail
My feet my falter
And my desire
Flounder…

I will not fail!

@RobMcBride

“By the light of the night everything will be alright, we need only rise, aim and set our sight.”

@RobMcBride

“While we all would like to be discovered for the greatness we have within, we must show it or do without.”

“While we would all like to be discovered, we must take action or remain lost forever.”

@RobMcBride

Hope is the shadow which follows us
Through the deep dark of the night

When we know how to invoke the power of hope
Then we began to bring life to the shadow of hope

@RobMcBride

Don’t delay another day, get out there now and say what you have to say!

“We must plant a seed of greatness within the dark soil of doubt and uncertainty. We then need only nourish and care for the seed which lies in the depth of our desire to enable it to shoot forth from the darkness into the light.”

@RobMcBride

As I grow older it makes me smile

For what I lack in stamina

I make up in style

: o )

In the vastness of eternity can we not help but feel a sense of serenity? @RobMcBride

“Swim free in a sea of tranquillity and live always in peace and harmony.”

@RobMcBride

“May we ultimately find that the end is not really the end, rather the beginning of something new again”

@RobMcBride

Some go, some don’t; some will, some won’t, so what?

Let’s go!

@RobMcBride

“Clearly we can see it is better to flow in a sea of tranquility than to suffer in a storm of hostility.”

@RobMcBride

“It is better to flow in a sea of tranquility than suffer in a storm of hostility in order to somehow find some semblance of sanity!”

@RobMcBride

I now know my North

I now know my objective

 

My decision too

One thought will rule

 

To live and let live

To be and let be

 

Smile broadly

And simply be happy!

 

@RobMcBride

We each have a story to be told

Each with something which makes us shiver in the cold

@RobMcBride

Don’t jump right in

Use your head instead

@RobMcBride

“Come what may, I will go forth today and do my best to make it a great day.”

@RobMcBride

I close my eyes and to my surprise…

I realize you are always with me

@RobMcBride

The biggest failure of all…

Is having never failed

@RobMcBride

Happiness is a choice…

Not an obligation!

@RobMcBride

What if the only rule that ruled us…

Was our own rule?

@RobMcBride

“When we build on sand, it just can’t stand.”

@EarlNightingale

“We become what we think about” @EarlNightingale

“Success is not so much hocus pocus, it’s just a question of focus.” @RobMcBride

While I am glad to be me, it is now so clear to see there is so much more I can be.

@RobMcBride

Hip hopped and ready to Rock on a 7 for 7 non-stop ticket to heaven… 🙂

In time we will find the plant of life will blossom with the sweet surprise which is now merely hidden and in disguise…

It will then bring forth the delicate folds of a flower which shines with sweet desire…

@RobMcBride

Well I am finally biting the bullet and changing over from FrontPage to WordPress…

Hop on board, would love to have you along for the ride!

Here is my new logo…

 

 

 

 

¿Qué tal?

: o )

“Comes a time when we need to get off the floor, dust ourselves off
and head out the door so we can achieve much more.”

Regardless of circumstance, the clock continues to go tick tock…

Thoughts which we so easily find create the realities of our mind…

“We can whine and wait or whistle and win.”

∞ Rob McBride ∞