Surrounding Hate & Forcing it's Surrender

Today is the day Pete Seeger turns 91 years old. I think of him often, even when it's not his birthday, because he is one of the most high-impact humans I've ever gotten to spend an afternoon with. 

I know he is not my grandpa but it sure feels like he's my grandpa. 

The time I spent with him put a permanent whammy on the way I saw things and made me appreciate the impact that one little person can have on another. He personified what I imagine to be a life spent with no regrets and solid persistence.

The circumstances surrounding this meeting were full of best friends, road-trip adventures, moon shine, musical instruments and oppressively hot July days in Okemah, OK at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

It had to have been 108 degrees with 100% humidity. We sat on the ground by the library, under some 60-year old trees in the park. Pete moved with ease and was the most authentic and comfortable guy I'd ever gotten to share time with. He had on a red plaid, snap-down-the-front, cowboy shirt, a white straw cowboy hat and a pair of Wranglers. He strolled with his banjo like somebody who had survived 80 years of life. It felt like he knew, more than any of the rest of us, the significance of our time spent together. It felt like he had an obligation to tell us stuff. He made us feel important, somehow.

He leaned up against the porch wall with his banjo and just started in. He talked a lot about Tom Paxton, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Woody Guthrie, his wife, his kids and their kids. He talked about Rosa Parks, The Hudson Bay Restoration Project, the second Red Scare and Libraries. 

He would pick up his banjo every so often to play a piece of a song to illustrate or punctuate his point, and then never miss a beat as he set it back down beside him.

He explained in extreme detail what a saint his wife is. He said that in the early years, he was gone more than he was home. He painted a picture of a squat in the Appalachians.

He recalled looking up at her, in front of their home and she had a baby in her arms, a baby in the oven and a toddler wrapped around her legs. He knew she'd have to haul water, but he knew he had to do this.
He was able to perfectly convey the desperation, passion and necessity of every painful departure. He is a gracious story-teller who left out few details. You could feel a version of what he felt.

You could see the hope in his eyes as he told the stories he's probably told a thousand times.

He is polite (always please and thank you) and methodical (no willy-nilly moves or words) And, he is so comfortable in his own skin that he makes others in his company more comfortable, as well. 

Seeger has that little bit of Magic and a strength of conviction that the history books may speak of but nobody can really know if they haven't spent an afternoon with him. For those who have gotten to do this and understand the significance, there is an obligation to share it. It's about cultivating a garden of ideas and actions to make the world a better place.

Sew some seeds of hope and grow a little passion.

If you are not familiar with Pete Seeger and his lifetime of work - celebrate his birthday with me and go learn!