brockway

The Noise No One Hears…

The morning becomes soft and careful

with the ideas of a beautiful moment in mind.

Morning, remember when we met? 

You whispered a blue hour greeting

with the birds singing, being.

The artist places the brush, intentional places.

Attention to places that hold soft meanings

and light streaming, orient to detail.

I see your smile, playful and carefree

turning to a hush, then scare me. 

You thunder yet a sudden calm of love.

The sun rises, it never ceases. Why? 

There’s truth in the lines drawn 

colors pause.

Breathe into a perfect moment,

let me see with eyes painted to hold it.

Morning, you are more beautiful than the first time we met…

Kings and Consequences

Words too many to say

after the sun went down,

our minds never ceased the flood.

What do you worship today?

Open your script and read,

bleed for act one scene three.

All rise for the honorable

fill in the blank.

All hail the magnificent fake.

Take a seat when I speak

and hold your breath.

There will be hell to pay.

Bring in the Jesus brand

soap box stand,

and weep.

Through Whispers and Waiting

She stood there still and quiet watching her love fade into the distance. The Autumn breeze was cold against her tears as she held a hand up for the last time. Her sailor was gone. The ship that carried him away seemed like death to her, though she tried to be strong. He had just proposed marriage and the joy of that moment still carried her, though only for a short time. As she went back to her life each day seemed odd without him. She would go to work and come home to an empty apartment. She would eat alone. She would sleep alone. She tried to call but there was no answer. She tried to write but there was no word. Through months and months he was becoming a ghost to her, a faded memory. Her heart broke every morning she opened her eyes without him. The loss she felt very profound and dark. Not only did she feel the absence of her love, but she felt the absence of all desire. She could find no joy in the things she once cared about. They were so petty to her now. He sailed away with promises of coming back, promises of writing and calling her when he could. It had been a year since she saw him fade into the horizon. No word. Silence. Darkness. 

She would wait. Wait for something, anything. She didn’t have to see him she just wanted a word, a whisper, a sound. Something to get her through, to strengthen her heart. Yet there was only stillness in the dark. Finally one day she walked down to the water weeping. She looked into the distance where the ships had come in and out day after day. She could no longer press on like this. She had to rid herself of this pain, she was broken, finally broken. She took her diamond ring off slowly, trembling. As she was about to through her ring to the sea she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart felt fire for the first time in a year. As she turned around she hoped to find her love standing there. She would hold on and never let go. She let out a gasp as she turned to find a stranger standing there in front of her, with his hand on her shoulder. She could barely make out his face through the tears in her eyes. He looked at her with gentle eyes that understood her pain. “He is coming back, dear. He says, ‘wait’. He is coming.” With that word, he took the ring from the palm of her hand and slipped it back onto her finger. The stranger turned and walked away. She couldn’t move. She fell to the ground weeping. Through the tears and trembling a smile appeared across her face. She kissed her ring and felt a surge of new life in her. She would wait.

There And Back Again- A Dan’s Tale

Living in a rural area has its advantages and drawbacks. Living on the west coast of Ireland is quiet and slow moving. It is a completely different place than where we came from. Living in the DC Metro area feels like you’re constantly on fire and all you do is run around trying to put the fire out. Here in the Burren, we’ve slammed on the breaks. I wake up and smell the ocean air mixed with a hundred different turf fires burning in the wind. It is a truly magical place to be. However, it can sometimes get a little… boring to say the least. Part of it is my problem. I can be pretty lazy sometimes. If events don’t fall into my lap I’ll walk around like a 5 year old looking for something to do. The other part is, there are only so many things to do here especially without a car. So we this week we headed to Dublin: the epicenter of Ireland’s on goings.  It was a very nice change of pace, even if for a brief moment. Everything was in walking distance. Good food, shops, and um… Starbucks. If you know me, you know my affinity for the coffee at Starbucks. If you know Ireland, you know one of the only places to find a Starbucks is in Dublin. 

After checking into our hotel and dropping the bags off, I hit the streets. In anticipation of visiting I had mapped out where the nearest Starbucks was to our hotel. It didn’t help much, as I began walking I realized I had no idea where I was going. So I walked. Not two minutes later I saw it. The sign. That green mermaid lady was beckoning me, so I pressed onward.  As I approached I paused only once. Standing in the doorway I took in the familiar sights and sounds. It was like a seen from a movie where everything slows down. I approached the barista and judging by the look in her eyes she knew. She must have known I was a starved American needing my “Starbucks Fix.” I slap a few coin down on the counter and blurted out the first thing that came to my mind, “Triple Grande Crème Brule Macchiato…to go.” No sooner had those words come out of my mouth, they were being repeated by each barista behind the counter like a choir holding on to each note so carefully. I chilled with anticipation. I took a seat close to the counter so I wouldn’t miss a single moment. A few moments had passed and I heard it. They were calling MY drink. I stood, cleared my throat, and moved toward the counter. All I could muster was a simple, “Thanks.” It was enough. I claimed my drink and moved back to my seat. As I sat I took a deep breath. I put the cup to my mouth and drank. Instantly I was ripped away into all that was familiar and warm. I was home again. The sweet and biting coffee shot through each sense of my body. All was right with the world. I wasn’t homesick any more. I was home.  After I finished my drink I was in a daze, and it was glorious.

I realize this story was a little dramatic and at times embellished, but I hope you enjoyed. I love it here, beyond words. But every once in a while its nice to have that taste of home and Dublin gave us that this week. It is nice to be back on the West coast. Cities are overwhelming and the country can be boring. We’re finding the balance. 

The “I Miss” List

As most of you know, we’ve been living in Ireland for about a month now. Clearly, it has been amazing. Seriously. I can’t think of a more beautiful landscape to wake up to every morning. Each new day I look out the window to see the Burren mountains and ocean so close. We are truly blessed to be here. However, we are still getting used to being away from all things familiar. I would like to compose a list of things I currently miss. Now this list is off the top of my head so bare with me, I may leave things out but I’ll do my best. Also, these things are in NO particular order. So if I put a beverage and then a person, just know its not indicative of how I feel about you. Because the first few ones are going to be drinks… ok? ok. Here we go.

I miss:

1. Pumpkin Spice Lattes

2. October Fest Beer

3. Starbucks Coffee 

4. Foliage

5. Family

6. Vermont (only this time of year)

7. My X-box (nerdy)

8. Having a car

9. Annual Rhode Island Trip with both familes

10. Bubbles 

11. Apple Picking

12. Apple Cider

13. Apple Pie

14. Pumpkin Pie

15. Wheat Thins 

16. Watching Traci Skate

17. That sweet new movie theatre that just opened in Leesburg where you can order full meals and eat them while you watch your movie.

18. Recording 

19. Going to shows

20. All the hot water we could want

21. Watching sports (that’s a new one, yes)

22. My coffee maker

23. Friends

24. Our DVD collection

25. Going to those small town “Apple Butter” festivals and things like that

26. PF Changs

27. Chipotle 

28. iHop

29. Barnes and Noble

So there you have it. 29 things. This list will increase and I’ll inevitably make a new one as things progress and holidays come around. Again, we love it here and couldn’t ask for a better place to spend a few months but that doesn’t mean you won’t ever miss home and family… and certain drinks you can’t get abroad. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. We love and miss you all. 

Dan

“She came close beside me and this she did say…”

You know when you sit down to write something, and you can’t seem to start it. It almost runs off in like ten different directions and you don’t know which direction to go. That’s where I’m at. I’ve started this blog post at least five times and erased each one. I know I want to write, I just struggle sometimes taking all my thought process and making into one fluid entry. I’m one for describing things. You all know that. I love writing and bringing things to life with words and music. However, the other day Traci and I were riding the bus from back from Galway to Ballyvaughan and I looked out at the sky. Now if any of you know what an Irish sky looks like typically, you’ll really get this. 

Ireland’s weather changes like teenage girl changes clothes. One minute it’s pouring, the next it’s sunny, the next it’s raining in the sun. There’s no telling what might happen that day. Because of this, the clouds become very dramatic here, very cinematic. So I was looking out over the Galway bay, which was to my right, and the mountains of the Burren lay before us. At this point, the view couldn’t have been more cinematic so began thinking to myself, “how would I describe this to someone?” My mind went to work, thinking of all the different ways to describe the colors, the breeze, the smell, the rumble of the bus, the voices heard around me, the sun light blanketing the mountain sides, the ocean’s rushing, etc. 

It was at this point I discovered something, something I don’t come across very often… I could not describe what I saw. Seriously. I thought about it and I didn’t think anything I came up with accurately portrayed the things I was looking at. This is something that was very difficult to leave alone, but I am convinced some things shouldn’t be described, they should be felt and experienced. That experience does far more justice to the world than my best attempts to describe the things around me. I may not always be able to describe to you all exactly the world around my right now, as Ireland is not something to be simply described, but I can promise you I will try my best to portray these things that happen in the next few months. 

So it seems this turned out to be a post I didn’t exactly plan on writing. I guess sometimes you just need to write and see where it takes you instead of you trying to control the writing itself. On that note, I hope to update this thing each week and keep everyone up to date with our time here. I also hope to get some video blog posts up soon. 

Slan go foill!

Dan

It’s a dangerous business going out of your door…

It’s a dangerous business going out of your door…

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.” J.R.R. Tolkien

So this will be the first official blog post for Traci and I. We wanted to create something our friends and families could read as we live the next four months in Ireland. We’ve been swept away for certain. Leaving the comforts and familiarities of home is not an easy thing to do. Especially because we in the West are very pre occupied with comfort and security. So this is our adventure, at least part of it. I told Traci we will probably go through a couple phases: 1. We will be living in awe of everything that is new to us. 2. We will miss absolutely everything about home. 3. We will integrate fully into our lives in Ireland. 

I have a feeling by the time we fully integrate, it will be time to go home haha. We love

it here. The view from our windows is breathtaking. Our house is huge and everything

is brand new. We’ll post a video and give you all a tour here sometime soon. Anyways, I

wanted to give you all a teaser of how this blog will work. I’ll try and post every week 

as best as I can. We love you all and look forward to sharing our adventures with you. 

Dan 

There Was Life

I think about life. How it moves so fluidly through this world and then on. Life ends and begins… it cannot be contained and cannot be understood. Life speaks volumes without saying a word. One life ends and another begins. Life is conceived in the most intrinsic of ways. It is given and taken away. A man’s life is something worth more than all the treasure and all the glory on this earth. Giving life is worth more than that. Life encompasses every breathe, every glance, every thought, every touch. Life succeeds and death melts away. 

Where is a man’s soul? Where is his life? Can he look and say, “My life is here”? Life is not owed us, we are given life. So what can a man do with life? What is the meaning or purpose? Forgive me, life is not enjoying every day until we see the grave. Life is not a collection of moments we store in a photo book only to look back on. Life is not, “One Day.” Life is now. 

Do not fear death, as it is unknown. Death is a giant open space of “what?” There is no finality in death. Death has itself died, because of Life. 

brockway: Where Blue Meets Green

So its been a few months going now and we finally have the vocal tracking finished. Now comes arranging and mixing. There will be three songs on the album and I’ve chosen quite carefully and I can’t wait for you all to hear them. I’ve also decided to name this album “Where Blue Meets Green,” based on some poetry I’ve written. Blue meets green is a picture of the horizon and symbolizes the places we are all looking to end up. Its that journey we take when we’re confronted with life altering chaos and the steps we take to find renewal in the aftermath. Each song tells a different piece of the story and holds a different aspect of that journey. So in a way, this could be interpreted as a concept album but I won’t take it that far. 

Thanks again to everyone who supported this project. We are nearing the finish line and will have this out to you by the end of the summer. 

Jesus and Parker’s Back….

“No, who is it?” Sarah Ruth said. “It ain’t anybody I know.”

“It’s him,” Parker said.

“Him who?”

“God!” Parker cried.

“God? God don’t look like that!”

“What do you know how he looks?” Parker moaned. “You ain’t seen him.”

“He don’t look,” Sarah Ruth said. “He’s a spirit. No man shall see his face.”

“Aw listen,” Parker groaned, “this is just a picture of him.”

“Idolatry!” Sarah Ruth screamed. “Idolatry! Enflaming yourself with idols under every green tree! I can put up

with lies and vanity but I don’t want no idolater in this house!” and she grabbed up the broom and began to thrash

him across the shoulders with it.

Parker was too stunned to resist. He sat there and let her beat him until she had nearly knocked him senseless

and large welts had formed on the face of the tattooed Christ. Then he staggered up and made for the door.

She stamped the broom two or three times on the floor and went to the window and shook it out to get the

taint of him off it. Still gripping it, she looked toward the pecan tree and her eyes hardened still more. There he

was – who called himself Obadiah Elihue – leaning against the tree, crying like a baby.