A Modern Jack Tale

Jack and the Incident at Fitzhughs Pond

A story about healing self and planet

Copyright 2012 by W.Hartsock, all rights reserved

Quoting Gilbert Murray, Richard Chase, storyteller has said:

We are under the power of the enemy-he who always puts the letter before the spirit-cheapness and triviality before beauty-It is he who makes things only in order to sell them; who has forgotten that there is such a thing as truth and measures the world by advertisement or by profit; who daily defiles the beauty that surrounds him and makes vulgar the tragedythe smart, the clever, the counterfeiter of spiritual values-he is all about us, and worse, he has wormed his way inside so many of uspersecuting our peace, spoiling our insight, confusing our highest values

( Art and creation come first-to create is to imitate the creation of all-listen to Mozart-write backwards and forwards simultaneously-open up the right side of the brain and shush the critical left brain-sing nonsense-stomp in puddles-pet old dogs and just listen!)

PART II-a Jack Tale within a Jack TaleJACK GOES aFISHIN: INCIDENT AT FITZHUGHS POND

Now Jack loved to go fishin. Anytime he got his work done up..well, hed go afishin-in fact, Jack loved fishin so muchwhy, hed dream of fishin-He could see that clean mountain creekwith them little still pools full of trout just flashin their colors in the sunlight under the hemlocksit was relaxin for Jack.

One night Jack had a dream he was fixin to go fishin at about dusk. He was going to Fitzhughs Pond. He had his Prince Albert can full of worms, his old hat, his fishing pole, and his old carbide light. He was walking out the cow path toward the pond. Evening was settling in as the sun was setting in the west. Deep purple streams of clouds and light with the salmon oranges were

fading slowly-the whippoorwills were tuning their evening songs; getting ready for the night.

Jack got down to the pond and put his pole on the ground. The pond was a man-made water hole. It had been dammed up on the end. A little spring trickled in at one end. It lay between two high hills. The banks were steep on the two sides. Where Jack was standin, it was in the cow path. The cow path was near the lip of the bank-there, it was seven feet to the surface of the water. (and a few hundred yards below this pond lies a 10-mile long man-made lake; made in much the same way)

Jack primed his old carbide light and lit it. The soft orange glow gently poured out into the cool summer night. Jack could hear the crackling of the giant power lines behind him-these power lines, he had been told, were the emergency electrical grid lines for the east coast. They were so big and powerful. Some nights you could not only here the crack and sizzle, but actually see them glowing-like fireflies on the lines.

He sat in the cow path. His fishing line in the waterwait! Hes gettin a bite! He let the fish take the worm..slowly..an Jack reared back and set the hook. Oh, it was a big one. Could be the big old catfish he had been hopin for. Jack wrestled with this big fish for several minutes.

In this few minutes, Jacks carbide light had went plumb out. Jack squinted to adjust his e yesthe durndest miasmatic effluvium poured in to the little cove. It was a big fog and settled about two feet high,

Jack kept on pulling at the big fish. He began to gain some ground on the critter. Well sir, he got

the big fish up to the bank where he could just barely make out that it was up on the landit..itit was not a fish. By the light of the stars, Jack could just bar -e-ly seeIT WAS OLD HARDSHELL! Yessir! Jack had hooked onto OLD HARDSHELL.

Now Jack had seen glimpses of Old Hardshell many times. Old Hardshell was the big snapping turtle that lived in Fitzhughs pond. Old Hardshell was ancient. He was as big around as a number 2 washtub. He had a thick coat of moss on his body. His shell had curved spike-looking points on it. Epizoon critters were crawling all over him. And boys, did he ever stink. You could smell him all over that little cove-he was stinkier than a polecat!

Yep, Jack had hooked Old Hardshell. Now, what was Jack agoing to do with Old Hardshell? Jack hadnt quite thought that one out yet, when all of a sudden her began to see electric blue flashes of light zinging about-sort of like arcs offn a tesla coilthen, he saw Old Hardshell slowly startin to rise. Old Hardshell was up on two legs! He was awalkin around like a man! He grew to 6-feet tall and stood upright like a man!

Old Hardshell came up the cow path toward Jack. Jack just froze in his tracks. Old Hardshell circled Jack and then there he was! Old Hardshell was standing within five feet of Jack. He stood tall on the hill just above Jack.

Kneel down before me boy!, roared Old Hardshell. Jack could smell his stinkiness. Jack slowly got down on his knees before the giant reptile. Now, was Old Hardshell gonna knight or smite Jack? Jack was afraid. Mighty afraid.

Old Hardshell bellered, Whom do you now serve?! Jack was trembling like a leaf. Jack had his head bowed, down, and down on his knees. He did not want to look at Old Hardshell.

Answer me, boy! hollered Old Hardshell. Jack was a thinkin of what to say. Then, Jack, he just blurted out-

Lord Jesus Christ! A loud sound tore through that cove loud as thunder. It was like a pistol shot scream in Jacks ears-it was a screeeeeech! Old Hardshell stomped the ground where he stood and POW! He went screeching off into the ethers-

All he left was his awful stink. Smelled like sulfur and pig leavinsOdiferous.

Jack was still tremblin. He slowly got to his feet and stood there, taking a de ep breath. Sheeeew! That durn smell. Whats at smell! Whats at smell! Sheeeew! It finaly got real quietquite like right now.

Jacks heart rate slowed and he took another deep breath. Suddenly, he heard laughter -It got louder. It was in a patternnow let me seeone, two, threesix, seven. It was seven loud laughs. There it was againseven loud laughs.the light slowly faded into a beautiful raspberry violet purpleit bathed the whole pond in the glowlit up the whole pond. The little cove was all aglow. That old stinky miasmatic effluvium had cleared too. Jack looked around and that is when he saw it.

This one looked almost as scary as Old Hardshell. Was it a man? Jack looked at it-this one had no shoes on. Barefoot. This one had brown-bronze skinhe was lean and well-muscled,,,about Jacks size.

This man had on nothing but a long-stranded grassskirt! Yes, it was a skirt made out of long strands of grass-looked like woven corn blades-and he had a soup-bowl hair cut! Now that was funny! But Jack didnt laugh. He was too afraid to.

The man spoke to Jack-That stinky old reptilehe follows me everywhere across space and time-now him and mewe made a deal. He gets to appear first and give his little bellerin speech-raise your fear level-and make you panic. The bronze man continued- Jack-you sure run him clean off with your answer to him. Now that old reptile, he cant stand being reminded of the fact that he is not all-powerfulhe tries to bully peopleyessir, hes all about fearhe feeds on fear. Allow me to introduce myself to you, Jack.

I am E-sssssssssencesssss..{Essence}. My friends call me Amazonia. You know me by the mediation of your senses. I have come to you in a form you will understand. But I wont return to you in this manner again-only will I return to you in dreams-within-dreamsflashes of intuitionsynchronistic circumstancesspirit-filled reveries. I have come back to you to remind you of something you once knew but have forgotten.

Music will serve as catalyst. Your imagination is so easily and readily excited by music-and it now seeks to give form to the invisible yet actively moved spirit world which speaks to you and

all others directly: you wish to cloth it with flesh and blood. It is actual and virtual.

I am E-sssssssssssencesssss{Essence}: a symbolyour acceptance of the symbol as analogue to the virtual will make artistic creation possible-I am of the Other in my polarity with your space time actuality.

This-man being.Essence, AmazoniaEssenceHe gently took hold of Jack shoulders and turned Jack in a circle-Jack was now facing the pond again. Jack looked down at his feet in the cow path. Jack slowly traced the arc of the scene in his eyeshe was on the high bank over the pondand the water surface was seven feet below his feet.right under his feet. It was then Jack realized he was missing a shoe. One shoe on and one shoe off.

Amazonia gently put his hand in the small of Jacks back and gave him a push toward the waterSuddenly, an edged surface like a thin I-beam, a carpenters level appeared beneath Jacks feet. Jack was standing on the upturned edge of a carpenters level. Jack was scared. Jack gently tried to coax himself to be calmhe was afraid of falling; he struggled within himself to maintain his balance on this thin edge he was standing upon.

Essence read Jacks thoughts. Jack, your inner fear for your balance is to prepare you for what you are about to see. And just as you stand suspended above the scenes to followit will ser ve to remind you to suspend your judgments as you view the scenes as they pass by your visage.

Essence stretched forth his handa time-elapsed scene appearedit was the pond in day light..the life span of the pond began to slowly emergethen more quicklyfrom pond to

marsh to bog to soft groundno more pond. It had changed into another form

Essence showed Jack a double handful of bullfrog eggs; a big clear blob with tiny black dots inside.

Essence then magnified the frog eggssome were beginning to mutatecaused by the run-off of the strong brush-killing herbicides running into the pond from the hill above. Used in the fields surrounding the pond. No words were spoken.

New scenes upon the screen are shown. Dozers crawling like ants upon a mountain top. It looked familiar to Jack. It was the next mountain over. Strip mining. Looked like the surface of the moon. Right in the vicinity, too.

Next, still without words, Essence the Amazonia showed Jack the scenes of a smoking firebulldozers pushing felled trees into a large smoking pilethe rainforest.shrinking. Then, flickering images of the reptilemutated in bodymindspiritfeeding on fear.

And the last scenethe oval of wet land where the pond had beennow a mucky pool of brush killing herbicide run-offnothing growing back normally

Then Essence spoke, The reptileit is he who is to come; he who is made by the environmental depredations of you and all humans, Jack. The environmental depredations inside and outside of you; inward to the Creator and outward toward man. This is how Old Hardshell is madehe is what man can evolve intoand he feeds on fear.

(and greedwhen mankind disrupts the natural order, something is always destroyed in that natural order)

There is a way out. Contemplate the answersCreator will do the Creators partreach out with your part.

It got even quite-rThen Essence the Amazonia begin to speak.

I will now impart to you a beautiful mystery-the EL_LO_HIM Elohimthe Seven-the seventones of thesidereal scale. Seven laughsHa-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-up the Pythagorean arc. Essence instructed Jack to repeat it back in just the same wayJack did.

Essence then told Jack, Find an empty snapping turtle shell. Put a neck upon it. It will serve to remind you of the beam you balanced your fears upon. Put strings upon this shell. Tune this instrument with your spirit. Play upon it the sidereal scale I have taught you. Trust your right brain. Let who you are merge with what you do. Heal!

With that , Essence embraced Jack, his right knee to Jacks right kneehis chest to Jacks chesthis hand to Jacks back shoulder blade

Then Essence whispered into Jacks left ear, then Jacks right ear the word love Again whispering, into first Jacks left ear, then his rightthe word forgive Essence then recited some wordsfrom Sartor Resartus:

 Not our Logical Mensurative faculty, but our Imaginative one is King over us; I might say Priest and Prophet to lead us heavenward kneel before no man

Then at last, Essence the Amazonia took Jacks hand, as if to shake it. The fingers now touching, use them to play the music of the sidereal scale-

And with a shout, Essence the Amazonia exclaimed, THE LION OF JUDAH WILL PREVAIL!

Then Essence whispered some final word..some words? It didnt sound like wordsthey were unclearsome secret words and they were unclear

It all then just faded away into the hypnagogic fog..into a clean bright miasmatic-free aura of warm raspberry purple light

Early next morning, Jack awoke and found himself lying in his bed. He shook his head and rolled around his eyestrying to make sense of what he had experienced. Had it all been a dream? Or was it for real?

He wasnt sure either way. But, when he went to the spring house to et some morning coffee water, he spied a big bull frog a-sittin in the corner of the springhouse. Jack bent down on his knees to get his water in the pail. The big bull frog bellered out: FLUX!

It startled Jack. He got up off his knees and started home with his pail of water. But as he stepped out of the springhouse-well, he turned around and took off his hattipped it and gently bowed to that big bull frog.
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Millennium
SPOKEN: Singer of dreams, tell us what you see!
God has made of one blood all nations of people Red, yellow, black and white Oh, many faces, many nations Chorus: And you shall see, see the millennium And you shall see, see the millennium See all the Alpha males, drunk on testosterone Leave us! Ego and aggression Oh! Many voices many nations Chorus: And you shall see, see the millennium And you shall see, see the millennium Spoken bridge: Military industrial reservations must go Nor more hidden agendas, secret fears One species though many faces Listen to the rhythm of the Earth It is the heartbeat of your Mother It is the heartbeat of your Mother AhAhAh,,,, Awaken all creatures, bear witness to the age Ocean, mountains, and deserts

Oh! Many voices, many nations Chorus: And you shall see, see the millennium And you shall see, see the millennium AhAhAhAh Repeat chorus: AhAhAhAhash-a-may-oo-maynever lienever fear

See old musprof final lecture, A jazz meta-physics piece, on <scribd> website for full story Copyright 2012 by W.H.Hartsock-all rights reservedhate to put it that wayhad a bad experience in Knoxville, Tenn. At a songwriters nightnotebooks and tape recorders-sometime afterward, I heard a mish-mash amalgamation of my songs turned into a monster hit. Then the artist stuck it on the play-the durn song-incessantly radio stationsI had been paraphrasedeminent domainedfric-frackedstrip-minedTrust your neighbors but tie your durn mule some musicians are meaner than railroad workers!