Reflections - Christmas 2020

REFLECTIONS - CHRISTMAS 2O2O

By Richard E. “Rick” Dennis CPP
Freelance Journalist and Author
Copyright December 2020, All rights Reserved
December 10, 2020

WHAT THESE EYES HAVE SEEN
WHAT THESE HANDS HAVE DONE
WHERE THESE FEET HAVE BROUGHT ME
WHAT MY SENSES HAVE TAUGHT ME

REFLECTION

As 2020 comes to a close, I usually take time to reflect on the blessings I’ve received during the year, including my successes, and give thanks to those clients that have made my business progress possible. However, this year has been a trying and most unusual one – probably the most unusual one of my lifetime. What started out to be a fantastic year has turned out to be a complete lifestyle change, due to the Covid 19 Pandemic. More specifically, this year is more reminiscent of the 1951 film; The Day The Earth Stood Still when aliens arrived on earth, except this time the alien was a virus created in a biochemical lab in Wuhan, China and released to wreck havoc on the world.

Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic: World Economies have collapsed or been brought to a standstill, nonessential businesses have been closed, nonessential employees have been laid off, and in many cases ending: Hopes, dreams, and careers thus causing financial ruin. Wearing masks in public is a standard operating procedure, isolation and social distancing has become the new normal, and loved ones have been lost.

Therefore, instead of reflecting on my accomplishments this year I’m taking this time to count my blessings and reflect on real life events utilizing our most used items that some take for granted: Our eyes, hands, feet, and senses. More specifically, our sense of touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. From the time we’re born, until we die, these items are used daily to gather information which we store in our brain. A virtual memory bank of knowledge recording events and interactions of our lifetime through time and memorial.

WHAT THESE EYES HAVE SEEN

However, the 2020 Pandemic; as significant as it is, isn’t the only significant event my eyes have witnessed in my lifetime, e.g.,: being born in Birmingham, Alabama and growing up in the Southern United States; my eyes have witnessed the Korean War and the KKK marches in the 1950’s, the struggle for freedom, i.e., the Civil Rights movement, the moon landing, the Rock and Roll era, the advancement in science and electronics technologies, innovations in travel, and a stint in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War in 1969 and 1970 as well as my time as a Drug Enforcement Agent and Law Enforcement Officer in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Gulf War in 1990, the tragedy occurring on September 11, 2001, the endless wars thereafter. Further, my eyes have witnessed Military Combat and Urban Combat as a Drug Enforcement Agent and Law Enforcement Professional. A combat role I was perfectly suited for after combat training I received in the U.S. Army.

Overall, my eyes, have witnessed birth, death, struggle, suffering, love, hope, joy, tragedy, hopelessness, success, advancement, and defeat. No matter what the outcome or event, my eyes have been here to witness it. More importantly and during my travels, my eyes have witnessed mother nature at her finest and worst, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, hurricanes, and tornados. Notwithstanding, my eyes have taught me a myriad life’s lessons.

Furthermore, my eyes have witnessed the beauty of other countries, it’s people, their languages, food, and customs. My eyes have provided me with a visual of all the glorious sights GOD created. My faith has guided me, and my guardian angel has protected me. I must confess, without divine intervention I should’ve been history long ago. My travels provided me with a visual observation throughout the North and South American Continents, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Greece, Saint Johns and Saint Croix – to name a few. More importantly, my eyes have provided me with a lifetime of memories – good and bad.

WHAT THESE HANDS HAVE DONE

If you picked up your hands; closely looked at them, and remembered all you have accomplished with your hands, you would realize how important they are to your everyday life and what a marvel they are. A persons hands are really marvelous apparatuses!! From birth, you learned how to feed yourself. Later in life you learned how to cook with them as well as how to show love, expression to prove a point, show hate, build with, tear down barriers, protect yourself and your love ones, display artistic talent, to pray to the almighty, care for the wounded, and express yourself through literary journals and books – authorship. Besides your eyes, your hands are the most valuable and versatile appendages you have and can even teach the deaf, open their world of silence, and bring happiness to their lives!!

From my early childhood days to the present, my hands have been the bridge that spanned a lifetime of work. I’ve used them in athletics in school, education, the Military to prepare for war, Drug Enforcement, Law Enforcement, Journalism, training horses and K-9’s, to build a horse ranch, and a myriad other uses. Nurses and Doctors use their hands to administer to the sick, and Priests and Pastors use their hands to heal the downtrodden.

WHERE THESE FEET HAVE BROUGHT ME

The other day, my cousin Kathy and I were looking at old photographs when one in particular caught my eye. It was a photograph of me when I was three years old along with my Papa Johnson, and my cousins Steve and Patsy Jean Street. The photograph was taken at the old Homestead in Fungo Hollow, Alabama. I was three years old. My cousin Steve and I are about the same age. It’s hard to believe the two youngsters in that photograph would serve in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War along with our cousin; Roger Dale Curl. Three cousins served in the Army while our cousin Kathy Jeronowitz and her husband Jerry served in the Navy, during the same time period.

It’s hard to believe, my feet afforded me the opportunity to walk out of Fungo Hollow, Alabama and embark on a life’s journey, spanning global venues. In my youth, my feet lead me all over Oak Mountain and Fungo Hollow, Alabama - embarking on one hunting and fishing adventure after another. In high school, my feet allowed me to become a star athlete performer. Later in life or 1969, my feet walked me out of my house and into Fort Polk, Louisiana as a draftee in the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division.

It was here, I learned the importance of taking care of my feet. Later and after a transfer, my feet brought me from the Infantry at Fort Polk, Louisiana to the 1st Aviation Brigade at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where I was assigned to a Huey Helicopter Assault Division. It was during my time in the Army that I learned the true meaning of DUTY. Duty to GOD, Family, and Country. After walking and out of the war, my feet walked me into my career as a Drug Enforcement Agent and Law Enforcement Professional as well as a new combat theatre - Urban Warfare. I was well suited to the job after my combat training with the U.S. Army. Today, my feet are still taking me where I need to go as a Professional Horse Trainer and Private Security Professional. However, taking proper care of my feet is still the practiced today.

WHAT MY SENSES HAVE TAUGHT ME

Each one of us are blessed with five senses. The sense of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. During my lifetime, I’ve been blessed to have traveled the world. The sights I’ve seen have mostly been wonderful, except for the war and my time in Drug Enforcement and Law Enforcement. Notwithstanding, I’ve witnessed the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets GOD ever created, in all parts of the world, smelled the most tantalizing aromas or forests, mountains, prairies, and oceans. A world full of nature and spectacular landscapes and people. Nothing like being in a hut on a beach and hearing the sound of waves lapping against the shoreline or watching a beaver build a dam in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

I’ve smelled the most aromatic scents a man could ask for. The most distinctive smells are the ones I enjoyed in my family kitchen during the holidays. Living in rural America, I was able to enjoy the voice of the screech Owl and the Whippoorwill, during the evening and night hours . The Screech Owl emits a high pitched sound that defines logic as to how it’s emanated from such a diminutive bird.

In my travels I’ve touched the ground of the Rocky Mountains, seen all of the oceans, and hunted the mountains of the Wind River Range, for-which my company is named after. I’ve traversed continents and oceans and experienced all there was to experience. Perhaps my most memorial events and happy times was living in Fungo Hollow, Alabama and cutting our own Christmas tree off of Oak Mountain. It was a family tradition. My Grandmother Jeannette was the matriarch of the family. It was she, and only she who picked out the Christmas tree for harvesting. It was the kids duty to bring it back to the house for erection and decorating.

I view the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020 as a bump in the road of life. One aspect of my life, I learned in the U.S. Army which is more appropriate today than ever before, is:. In any adverse situation: Adapt to the situation, and improvise a plan to circumvent, and overcome the obstacle. After all, we’re all in this together. Remember to keep “Christ” in your Christmas, enjoy your family during the holidays, and have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!

“Until Next Time, Keep Em Between The Bridle”